Facebook And Twitter Contribute To Rise In Property Crime

"Users of social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter have been warned by police after two men were convicted of burgling a house whose owners had advertised the fact they were away."

Do you faceoff on Facebook? Do you Tweet? If you do, it is is perhaps important to know that your movements are being watched by many people.

If you are away from home and tweeting on the move, the possibility of having a home invasion are increased. The fact that the social networks are increasing in popularity and an increase in users is leading to other societal problems. Specifically, burglars are watching...waiting for you to indicate that your property is vacant and then taking advantage of your absence.

Yes, you can have an alarm installed and that will inform you that your property has been broken into, but it will not prevent a break in from occurring.

The security of your home and posessions and family is of vital importance to your peace of mind.

How much do you value your security?

Installing better quality physical locking solutions, combining with sensor lighting and sometimes window security film, you can virtually completely prevent unauthorised or destructive entry.

According to an article recently published in the Telegraph in the UK,

"Police in the American state of New Hampshire said yesterday they had smashed a burglary ring which targeted users who imparted their location on their status or used a new Facebook application called Facebook Places, a mobile phone-based service giving away users’ locations, and therefore effectively advertising the fact they are not at home.

The gang broke into 50 homes, stealing around £60,000 worth of goods.

Gareth Kloet, head of home insurance at the Cardiff-based comparison site Confused.com, said: “What’s happened in the US could be the start of a worrying trend and if insurance providers see it as a potential risk, you can bet your home contents on the fact they’ll start pricing for it.

“Something like 'places’ on Facebook broadcasts people’s locations on a platform which has 500 million users – you don’t need to be an insurance provider to see the risk that poses. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see rises of up to 10% for social media users in the future.”

The insurance company More Than recently carried out a survey of 50 former burglars, which revealed that monitoring social networking sites is now big business for criminals.

Company spokesman Pete Markey said: “Using Facebook or Twitter to boast about a big night out or a fortnight in Barbados may impress friends and colleagues, but it’s enough to give the savvy burglar all they need to know.”

(source...)