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Archive for Home Protection Tips
Don’t forget to lock your door when you’re outside
Posted by: | CommentsHome invasion is a crime of opportunity
Burglars are going to take any opportunity they can to get into your home if the situation presents itself.
I’ve been hearing stories about people in quiet, “safe” places falling victim to home invasions while they’re outside in their own yards, gardening or entertaining friends on the patio.
A burglar like this has to be very brazen and possibly armed. Your best protection in this case is to keep your doors and windows locked if you’re going to be outside for any length of time, even in the back yard. If you have a security system, turn it on when you’re going outside. Invest in good quality locks and security products. You’ll find an excellent selection at our Berkeley locksmith shop.
A couple other suggestions:
- Don’t leave a key under a door mat, a silly fake rock, in a mailbox, above a door frame or anywhere else blatantly obvious. These are the first places many burglars check.
- Get a dog who will bark at anyone approaching your home.
- In the event that an intruder does make his way in your home, don’t make it easy for him to take your valuables. Lock as many of the away. Never leave your purse in plain sight. Don’t leave cash or jewelry on your kitchen counter. If there’s nothing worth stealing in the kitchen, the burglar is likely to make a bee line to the master bedroom. Try hiding your valuables in an unsuspecting place. There’s a wide variety of safes available at our Berkeley locksmith shop located at 1908 University Avenue. Hide your safe in the laundry room, maybe a bathroom vanity, a garage or even a freezer.
It doesn’t have to be dark to make a burglar interested in your property so try to always be cognizant of protecting your home and your family.
Are you inviting someone to rob your home?
Posted by: | CommentsIf you think installing some antivirus software is all it takes to protect yourself during your online activities, you might want to think again.
Facebook and Twitter are fun tools for social networking but it’s amazing to see how many people are completely careless when updating their status.
When you’re on the computer talking with friends and family on Facebook, being a victim of a robbery is probably the farthest thing from your mind, but it shouldn’t be.
Are your privacy settings configured so that only friends can see your status updates and information?
If you have hundreds of followers or friends do you know each of them on a personal level? Or are some of them just friends of friends?
If your status updates are viewable by just anyone and you have your hometown on your profile along with photos of your home, how long do you think it would take someone with ill intentions to find your property?
How long would they have to wait for you to post a status update telling the world that you’re going shopping or on a five day vacation?
I see this all the time – people counting down the days until they go on an extended trip or telling their “friends” how long they’ll be out running errands.
Meanwhile, I can look at their photos and see what their home looks like from the outside and interior photos give me a good idea of the contents of the home as well as how the house is laid out.
This combination is asking for trouble.
The same goes on Twitter though it’s not quite as dangerous because of the amount of information you may be sharing in comparison to Facebook where many people provide their phone number, physical address and even their children’s names. That’s giving a bad guy an awful lot of information.
Our locksmith shop in Berkeley carries a variety of security products that can help protect your home but you should try not to invite a burglar right into your home by telling them when you’ll be gone!
Don’t fall victim to a Distraction Burglary
Posted by: | CommentsThe easiest and least expensive way to protect your home goes back to one of the first pieces of advice your parents gave you – don’t open the door to strangers.
Maybe you’ve heard of distraction burglaries before and maybe you haven’t. But it’s very important that you get yourself educated about this type of crime used by the lowest of the lowly perpetrators to gain entry into a home.
When a distraction or trick is used on the person answering the door to gain access to a home with the intention of committing burglary, that’s known as a Distraction Burglary and it’s happening more often than you would think.
The most likely victim of such a crime is usually a woman over the age of 78, living on her own. Often, the victim doesn’t even realize anything was stolen until well after the crime actually took place.
Imagine an unsuspecting elderly woman opening the door to someone she believes is a nurse, a gardener, utility personnel, delivery person or even a police officer who is actually a thief there to take advantage of her good nature.
These types of burglars are known as “bogus callers.” A legitimate caller should have some type of official-looking ID and any relevant paperwork you’d expect a professional to have with them.
Here are some very important tips concerning doorstep safety to keep in mind for yourself and also to pass along to your children and elderly family members or acquaintances.
- Ask why the person is at your door and if their story does not add up, close the door, lock it, and call the company they claim to represent.
- Ask for ID and paperwork. You should have your chain pulled across and ask them to pass the papers through to you before you unlock the door.
- When you’re answering the front door, make sure the back door is locked. These burglars often work in pairs and while the victim is busy at the front door, their accomplice is sneaking in the back.
- Don’t keep large sums of money in the house. Same goes for valuables. Investing in a small safe is a good idea.
- Keep all of your documents with personal information on them out of clear sight. Someone can get enough information about you from your passport, utility bills and bank statements to steal your identity.
- Never keep your keys on display. Keep them somewhere a thief would have to search hard for to find, but somewhere easy for you to remember where they are!
- When in doubt simply do not open the door.
If you think you have been victim of a distraction burglary, call the police as soon as possible.
In the meantime, if you live in Berkeley or a surrounding area, stop by our locksmith shop at 1908 University Avenue to look at the wide range of safes we have available. Our experts will help you decide which option is best for you.
This year, resolve to improve your home’s security
Posted by: | CommentsIf you made it through 2009 with you and your family healthy and unharmed, congratulations!
If you haven’t made any New Year’s resolutions yet, here’s an idea for you. Ensure you and your family get through 2010 safe and sound by resolving this year to make some home improvements to protect against intruders.
Almost everyone could stand to add one or two items to their home security repertoire. Here are some suggestions for you to help protect your home:
- Install bright lights around your homes points of entry to deter a burglar for fear of being spotted
- Make sure you have good quality deadlocks on all of your doors.
- Stop hiding a key outside in an obvious place.
- Put your family’s valuables in a fireproof safe or store them off site in a safety deposit box.
- Always lock your doors even when you’re at home.
- Never let a strange into your home, no matter how official they might appear. There are many scams running rampant and some robbers dress as delivery personnel or other officials. Always ask to see ID and inspect it closely before letting someone in your home.
- Don’t forget to lock your windows.
- Never leave ladders or anything else alongside your home to help a burglar climb to the second floor to find a new way to gain entry.
- Ensure your home’s doors are of high quality.
- If you did not change your locks when you moved into your current home, change them now. It’s never too late.
You can never be overly cautious when it comes to protecting your home. A few small improvements and minor investments can go a very long way in ensuring your family’s safety.
Stay safe – keep your doors locked at all times
Posted by: | CommentsAre you one of those people who leaves your doors unlocked all the time when you’re at home? If you’re not the type to even have a shower without locking the door, the thought of this might shock you, that there are people who never lock their doors, but a lot of people don’t. Some people even say they lock their doors so little that they could buy doors without locks.
This is a very foolish way to think and it can end up leaving someone in a terrible situation.
Unless you have a team of angry dogs in your home to protect you from intruders, you are literally leaving yourself wide open for trouble.
You might think you live in a safe neighborhood and nobody would ever break into your home, but guess what? There’s a first time for everything, and you have no idea of who might be prowling around your block just waiting for the right time to enter your home.
If something like this were to happen and you were robbed, your insurance company likely wouldn’t cover any losses if your home was left wide open. That’s an important point to consider when you leave your home with your doors unlocked.
The amount of time it takes to lock your doors is completely insignificant. It barely takes seconds. But this tiny bit of effort can protect you from losing all of your money and valuables or a much worse tragedy that could occur if the wrong person suddenly gained access to your home.
Protect your family by putting deadbolts on all of your doors and actually using them whether you’re at home or not.
Rex Key & Security, provides locksmith services in Oakland, Berkeley and surrounding areas and we would like to help you prevent a security breach in your home. If you don’t have good quality locks on your doors, come visit us at 1908 University Avenue in Berkeley and we’ll help you select the right lock device for your home or business. If you do have good locks on your doors then please, please use them.
When choosing a locksmith in California, it’s buyer beware
Posted by: | CommentsImagine this scenario for a minute…
You find yourself locked out of your car. You make your way to the nearest phone book and scour the yellow pages for a locksmith in Berkeley. You call the one that boasts the “guaranteed lowest price” and they tell you over the phone how much it will cost. It sounds a little high, but you’re stuck and they say they can send someone right away.
Then you wait. When someone finally shows up, it seems as if he’s never jimmied a lock before. When you’re finally back in your, you’re given the actual price. A price that happens to be double what you were originally quoted because of the distance you were from the shop and how difficult it was to unlock the car.
Here’s another thought to ponder. You return home from an evening out and you panic when you see your door has been kicked in. You call the first Berkeley locksmith company you can find through a Google search. You’re given a price and are told someone will be there momentarily.
The locksmith that arrives is not insured. In fact, it seems as though he’s never received any training as a locksmith. After the lock is finally changed, you’re given a price drastically different than the one you were quoted on the phone because of the high degree of difficulty.
In both of these cases, you are the victim of a common scam that sees you paying hundreds of dollars more than you would have had you taken the time to choose a reputable, insured locksmith.
There are many unlicensed locksmiths operating across the United States and they can appear legit in their phone book ads and their Internet presence so you have to do your research instead of calling the first locksmith you find.
In the State of California, because it is against the law to hire an unlicensed contractor, including a locksmith, while you might have a case against the shady locksmith company, you would have to admit to having hired an unlicensed contractor in the first place. It’s a real Catch-22 and because it’s so easy to find a well-known and respected locksmith, you should have the name and number of one in your wallet, just in case.
If you live in Berkeley, Oakland, Richmond or a surrounding area, one of our mobile units can help you in any situation where you need a locksmith. All of us at Rex Key & Security are licensed and insured.
Don’t think your home is secure just because your doors are locked
Posted by: | CommentsWhen you lock your doors and turn off the lights, you feel you’ve done your part to keep your family safe for another night. But if you truly believe that, it’s important you understand that unless you have bump proof locks, you are not truly secure.
Using a technique called lock bumping, anyone who knows how to use Google can pick your lock in under 60 seconds.
The act of lock bumping might sound new to you but rest assured – criminals have been doing it for decades. A bump key is a key that’s been cut in a certain way so that when inserted in a pin tumbler lock and tapped in a particular way, the pins in the lock cylinder are released and the door opens.
The first US patent for a bump key appeared in 1928 but surprisingly it wasn’t until around 2002 that the use of a bump key was seen as a possible security threat.
Today you can purchase bump keys on the Internet for a couple of dollars and learning how to use one to gain entry into a home is very easy, again, thanks to the Internet. An intruder can open your door using a bump key within seconds.
There are a couple of ways you can protect your home being entered with a bump key:
Buy a bump proof lock. There are several manufacturers today making bump proof locks. A bump proof lock system is more expensive than a regular lock, but it’s an important investment in your home’s safety.
Have your lock bump proofed. Your local locksmith can convert your standard lock into a bump proof one for a very small amount of money.
Please do not make the mistake of assuming that your expensive door locks can’t be bumped because ironically, the more expensive locks are easier to bump. Because they’re more accurately machined, locks made of tougher steel are easier to open with a bump key because they’ll hardly sustain any damage during the bumping process. Whereas a cheap lock likely won’t be able to resist the strength of the knock it receives during a bump cause it not to turn as the intruder hopes it will.
How to protect your home from a holiday burglary
Posted by: | CommentsMost of us make it much too easy for a thief to enter our homes but especially in December. Think about it, many of us have a big bright tree marking where all of the expensive gadgets and valuable gift cards are. It can be quite simple for a burglar to make their own holiday wonderful (stealing your presents and valuables) while making yours miserable.
If a thief really wants to get into your home, you should try your hardest to make his job difficult. The easiest and cheapest way to protect your home from a burglary is to make your entry way nice and bright and to make it challenging for a burglar to get in your door.
The longer a thief is standing in front of your home trying to break in, under good lighting, the better the chance they will be caught. That’s not what the burglar wants so if your home is bright, that might be enough to deter him.
But it’s better to be safe than sorry so here are some other tips to help make your home unattractive to a thief:
- Never, ever leave doors and windows unlocked
- Install motion lights around your house to light up those dark areas
- Please do not leave a key in an obvious place like under the doormat or the planter
- Ensure all of your exterior doors have deadbolts
- Trim bushes and trees around doors and windows so burglars can’t work without fear of being seen
- Always rekey your locks when moving into a new home or apartment because you never know who has a key to get into your home
During the holiday season take these additional precautions:
- Don’t leave valuables or small, portable gifts where they can be spotted from a window
- Keep your Christmas tree away from a window
- Be cautious of strangers. A thief will often pose as a delivery man with gifts in order to gain access to your home so ask for identification. Also, if a stranger comes to your door asking to use the phone, don’t let them in. Make the call yourself.
It doesn’t take too much effort to protect your home from a burglary over the holiday season, but the peace of mind you’ll have is well worth the monetary and time investment you make.
Happy Holidays!