The mid-year school break is here, and with it will come trips away with the family and holidays abroad, which means homes will be left empty at a greater rate.
Before you pack up your suitcase to take your much-needed holiday, it’s important to make sure that your home is safe from potential intruders while you’re away.
Burglars will always look for certain signs when casing properties to break into. Professor Rudolph Zinn, senior lecturer in Forensic and Crime investigation at the University of South Africa, interviewed 30 convicted burglars, who shared their most common means of choosing a target.
In analysing the responses, Zinn found that out of all the measures that would hinder a house robber, 68% of them refer to securing the outer-perimeter of house and garden while 32% refer to internal security systems. This is because once the perpetrators have managed to get close to the house, the advantage they have in terms of the element of surprise leaves the residents with fewer defensive options. However, if the residents are alerted to a person jumping over their wall, they will have time to lock doors and raise the alarm.
To prevent you from falling foul of any common security mistakes, we’ve put together some tips to help you keep your home and your valuables safe.
High fences or bushes
Professor Zinn found that all perpetrators would spend some time prior to the attack doing surveillance on the targeted residence. In some cases this could be as little as 30 minutes prior to the attack and in other cases up to two weeks. The purpose of the surveillance is to orientate the perpetrators to the layout and types of neighbourhood and household security measures, and the habits and patterns of the residents.
You may think that having high fences or bushes is an easy way to keep people away from your property. But to burglars, these actually serve as great hiding places. Once over your fence, they’ll be out of view from any potential onlookers or neighbours.
Newspapers or letters in the letterbox
If you’re heading away for a long period of time, a newspaper left in the letterbox for more than a few hours will be a clear indicator that your home is empty. To be safe, ask a trusted neighbour to keep a look out for you and to push them through while you’re away.
Social media bragging
Social media oversharing could leave your home vulnerable to break-ins. Those beautiful geolocation tags, and pictures of your getaway destination on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter broadcast to digital-savvy thieves that you are not home.
Research by online security company McAffe shows that one in five of us tag our holiday location when posting on platforms such as Facebook or Instagram, making it clear that we’re away from home. If you are not a hardcore social user, don’t post about your holiday in real-time. Instead, post about your holiday when you get back.
If you just can’t wait to share, remove your geolocation if you ‘have to’ post in real-time, don’t tell people how long you’ll be away for, and only share with a group of trusted friends.
A table in the hallway
A table in the hallway may be the easiest place for you to throw your keys at the end of the day. However, these can be easily taken by a burglar sliding a hook through a window or letterbox. Instead, you should keep your keys away from the door in a safe place.
Glass panel doors
Doors with glass panels, especially those that aren’t double glazed, can be easy to smash through, which will allow a burglar direct access to the lock or internal handle. If you can’t replace these doors with a more reliable option, you should probably invest in a security device to watch over your home.
For example, with Ring Video Doorbells and Security Cameras, you can monitor your entire home while you’re away. Ring sends you instant mobile alerts when people press your Doorbell or trigger the built-in motion sensors. When you answer the alert, you can see, hear and speak to people on your property from your smartphone, tablet and PC.