Is Your Social Media Usage a Security Risk?
When you stop and think about it, just how secure is your home at the end of the day?
While you may have a good security system, practice common sense habits like not letting newspapers and mail pile up and don’t leave garage doors and other entries to your home unlocked, you could still be advertising that you’re a potential break-in victim?
According to FBI data from as recently as two years ago, one in every three-dozen homes nationwide was expected to be burglarized during the year. Such criminal events lead to an average loss of $2,230 with each break-in. When you total those figures up, it comes out to more than $4.5 billion in property losses.
So, still feel safe at home?
Practice Common Sense at All Times
While individuals and families can’t be in their residences 24 hours a day, there are a number of common sense tactics they can deploy to reduce the chance of becoming crime victims in their own home.
Among them:
Secure the Residence – More and more Americans are looking into and purchasing local home security systems. For those fearing that a security system will cost too much money, there are plenty of companies and deals out there if you take the time to research them. Social media is a great tool to use in this process. Along with referrals from friends and family members, Google terms such as “security systems” and “home security” when researching. Review the companies that are of interest to you, along with checking out their social media profiles on Facebook, Twitter etc. You can learn details about a company by seeing how quick they respond to consumer questions on social media, if their responses are helpful, and how often they post relevant links to information on home crime stats etc.
Don’t Fall Into a Pattern – Many crimes in the home occur due to residents falling into a familiar pattern. They may leave for and arrive home from work at similar times during the day, leave mail and newspapers pile up while out of town, let grass and bushes grow while on vacation etc. All of these patterns of behavior can lead to trouble, especially in circumstances where one or more thieves are casing a residence. In order to lessen the chances of your home being broken into, alternate to a degree when you leave for and arrive home from work if at all possible, put your mail/newspapers on hold when out of town, and if you can’t do it yourself before you leave, have someone mow the lawn, water the plants etc. while you’re away.
Avoid Advertising Your Schedule – Finally, it probably should not come as a big surprise that more and more home break-in perpetrators are turning to social media in order to learn when homeowners and renters will be away. If you’re planning that long-awaited vacation or have to go out of town for work or family business, don’t advertise it to the world. In the event you just have to post pictures and comments of where you’re visiting, make sure you have a private profile on sites like Facebook and Twitter, meaning only those you approve of can see your posts.
With the economy still struggling and many individuals facing financial hurdles and/or living on the streets, tough times mean a greater risk of criminal activity.
Lessen the chances that you and your loved ones will have your residence visited by an unwanted guest.
Photo credit: Image courtesy of Salvatore Vuono at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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