Do You Overshare Your Personal Life Online?
If you’re guilty of providing details about your activities on social media, then it’s time to lock down your profile to prevent an attack on your home.
29,542 burglaries were carried out across England and Wales during December 2019. Some of these crimes will have been the result of opportunist thieves who notice a lack of security in place when they happen to be in the vicinity of your home. However, as many as one in twelve victims of a burglary report to having posted on social media, bragging about their expensive purchases or holidays before having their property targeted by thieves. This behaviour significantly increases the chance that your home will be attacked by burglars. Follow these tips to ensure that would-be thieves cannot make assumptions about your whereabouts or possessions based on your social media activity.
Don’t Invalidate Your Insurance
In a recent survey by Hillarys, 79% of a selection of 2,000 Brits aged 18 or over admit to posting beautiful images when they’re on holiday. This is a giant red flag which gives burglars clear details about how far away you are from your home, and potentially how long you’ll be there for. It’s also rumored that insurance companies will start to use this type of behavior on social media as a reason to invalidate your contents insurance policy, due to it not meeting the terms of a typical ‘reasonable care’ clause.
Who Are You Friends With?
If you’re the type of person who likes to use social media to attract thousands of followers, it may be time to take a close look at exactly who you’re allowing to scrutinize the finer details of your life. Take a look at the photos and details of dinner dates or events that you post about. Are you posting too much about yourself on social media? Burglars can scour your profile to find out precise details about your location, your place of work, your favorite restaurants and any religious venues you may attend on a routine basis. Going through your privacy settings is essential, to understand who is able to find you on Facebook or similar networks and what they can learn about you. Also avoid accepting invitations from mutual friends unless you definitely know who they are and trust their motivations towards reaching out.
Avoid Using Apps Which Advertise Your Location
From checking in at an airport using Facebook, to using cycling or running apps that share details of the route you’ve just taken as part of your fitness program, any software you use that posts details about your daily life could potentially attract thieves to target your home. If they notice a particular pattern emerging, when you’re absent from your property at the same time every evening or weekend, then this would give them a great reason to target your home during those times.
If you’re particularly active on social media and haven’t been following these best practice tips, then it’s time to start locking down your profile and posts. However, a professional Essex alarms team reminds us that opportunist burglars are still a threat too, so it’s essential that you take the necessary precautions at home including locking all your doors and windows, installing floodlighting and a robust intrusion detection system to fully deter burglars from attacking your property. Start putting measures in place today to give you peace of mind that your home is secure from the hands of burglars.
