Just noticing the surge of these types of thefts being reported at work....
'Tis the Season' :(

So a timely reminder:
~ Don't leave Satnavs in dashboards (or the little round rubber sucker mark on your windscreen..a big clue it might be worth smashing your window on the chance there's one tucked away somewhere)
~ Keep your handbag 'to hand' and when Xmas shopping in crowds choose a bag that can be zipped up and not falling open to reveal tempting contents for sticky fingers. (Research shows average Ladies handbag is worth aprox £350! what with contents such a mobile phone,Purse and contents,i~pods,perfumes, etc etc and the cost of some hand bags alone!)
~ Don't leave bags of Xmas shopping on display in the car.
~ Have a quick review of you'r Household security, Has Summer (Pah! what summer!!??) left you blase about locking & shutting windows..... (Must admit even in these arctic conditions I like all my windows open in the house! Must be the Husky & Norwegian blood) Secure sheds & outbuildings especially if bikes etc are stored there..
~ Sheild your pin when using cash machines.

Shame isn't it, When I was growing up in Cumbria we never locked the house. :( Gone are the days.
I'm sure you can add more sensible tips to the list....

Worthy reminder Liv - I can't speak for anyone else but my brain shuts down as soon as dusk falls (some would say before :-D ).  Twice recently I've left my handbag in the shopping trolley when putting the goods into the back of the car - fortunately nobody of dubious integrity around at the time!  The thing is in the car I'm so careful normally - my bag is never in view and I keep all the doors locked while out and about locally and in town or until I get on the motorway.

Just a couple of hours ago I heard on the radio an elderly lady in the district had her car jacked while she was reversing out of her own driveway - thankfully she managed to escape to safety :(

Much more worrying still, I heard THISon the radio this evening - a lot more frightening than simple theft :(

> Shame isn't it, When I was growing up in Cumbria we never locked the house. :-( Gone are the days.
>

my dad hadnt locked his back door many times up untill a year ago!!! hes lived there for 30 years! (thats in north wales)
we forget to lock the door all the time! even though we live in a tiny village, a house at the other end was broken in to a few months ago!

great tips HG :-)

I had my car window smashed whilst out walking the dogs all because I left the sat nav ring on the windscreen.  There was nothing in the car to take thankfully, but it still left me with having to get the window repaired.  That will teach me .......

Thanks for that, a good reminder is always a good idea, i dont keep my sat nav or anything like the sort in my car at all.

Also the suction thing that goes on the windscreen, i would recommend keeping that clean so there isnt a mark as i heard some of the thugs breaking in just because the mark on the windscreen suggested a sat nav!

Read that article about those children, thats terrible, i am just glad they are ok, what is this world coming to, they are just total scum and that poor little old lady, how low can they get!!

Also for the men and some women out there for them not to leave a wallet in their back pocket of their trousers, so easy for someone to pinch it as you wander around.

Also when locking up your house never leave your car keys within 6ft of your front door. Many thieves have made a contraption to take car keys through the letter box of your home. Also if visible from looking through, an incentive to break into the house.

we have just had a warning around the northampton area, there is a couple maybe more of them, as you have a trolley load and are at your car they aproach you with a map lay the map on the bonnet of the car or if you are sitting in your car throw it onto your knees and ask for directions, they have a foreign accent when you are helping them with directions they steal your purse,bag etc, they think that someone is watching you at the cashpoint and then targeting you when you come out of the shop,

also correct suejaw about wallets in back pockets, we where sitting talking when we saw a man get his wallet out to pay for some food at our local cafe and his wallet was full of money and he stood there with it hanging open and then took the money out to pay for his food and stuffed it back into his loose fitting trousers when he sat down opposite us it was hanging out of his back pocket, and i just had to say something to him, about what we had just witnessed and if we where dishonest i could of lifted it from his back pocket as he sat there now, he said i never even give it another thought and could not thank me enough wanted to buy me a cuppa , i just said if it is all you have in the world in your back pocket and sum scroat takes it because they can and they will ,
he immediatly put it in his front pocket in his jacket and zipped the pocket up.
carolann

When a lot younger I worked a couple of late nights a week I came home one night and the car had gone. I walked down to the police station, I can always remember what he said "Did Madam leave her keys in her car!" I waved the keys under his nose and responded accordingly.
It was my first real car and real job about 12 miles from home and no bus service it caused real problems, we got it back in Reading, wrecked inside, no insurance pay out as I was third party.

Burgled once and it upset me so much I had a bit of a breakdown/depression thing we have since moved house.

Im very careful what I carry in the car now and I do lock it up when walking the "boys" but it leaves a horrible taste when one realises nothing is really safe anymore.