A Few Lessons From A Few Stories

1. Long-term Parking
    A family left their car in the long-term parking at the airport while going away for vacation. Some thieves broke into the car and found the car's registration paper in the glove compartment. Using the information in the paper, the thieves broke into their house. Knowing that the owner of the house would be away for long period of time, the thieves had more than sufficient time to steal everything at ease.
Lesson:
Don't leave identifiable information in the car, particularly when parking in long-term parking area.

2. GPS
    Another family parked their car in the stadium carpark for a football game. Some thieves broke into the car and stole a garage door remote control and the GPS which was prominently mounted on the dashboard. The thieves then used the GPS to guide them to the victim's house and used the remote control to open the garage door and gained access to the house. Again, knowing that the owner of the house would not be home in short period of time because of the football game, they stole everything at ease.
Lesson:
1. When leaving your car, dismount the GPS and take it with you or store in a covered place (e,g, in the glove compartment).
2. Don't store your home address in the GPS. If you really have to find your way home with the GPS, store the address of a nearby store or gas station.

3. Texting
    A lady had her handbag stolen which contained things including her mobile phone. From a pay phone, she called her husband telling him what had happened. Her husband said, "I just received your text message asking for the PIN number of our bank card and I've replied a little while ago." They then rushed to the bank and only realized that all the money in their bank account had been withdrawn. The thieve actually had used the stolen mobile phone to text 'hubby' in the contact list, got the PIN number of their bank card and withdrew all their money.
Lesson:
1. Use names (e.g. John, Mary etc) in contact list and instead of relationships (e.g. hubby, wife, darling etc.)
2. When sensitive information is asked through texts, always CONFIRM by calling back.
3. If you are texted by friends or family to meet somewhere, always confirm by calling back. If you can't reach them, take extra care (e.g. have someone to accompany you) before going.

4. Lost Property
    A lady went grocery shopping at a supermarket in a local mall and left her handbag sitting in the trolley while reaching for something off the shelf ..... you know what happened but wait ...... that's not the end of the WHOLE story.
    The lady's handbag was stolen and she reported it to the store manager. After returning home, she received a phone call from the Mall Security saying that they had her handbag, and that although there was no money, it did still have her personal cards and belongings. The Mall Security then asked her to come back to pick it up as soon as she could. She immediately rushed back to the mall, only to be told by the Mall Security that they did not have her handbag and they did not call her. She then rushed back home and found her house was broken into and burglarized. The thieves just used the information found inside her handbag to lure her away from the house and burglarize it.
Lesson:
1. Don't leave important personal items unattended in public.
2. While it is logical (and natural) for people to rush back to claim their lost property, do it only when you have others staying at home. If not, stay calm and tell the Mall Security (the caller) to keep the lost property for the rest of the day and you would return to pick it up the next morning. If you were anxious about your lost property, you may then rushed back immediately to claim it. It's a bit dishonest though to do so, but it's for security and is not harmful to anyone.