Tuesday, 03 February 2015
At the weekend Manchester United’s record signing Angel di Maria was targeted by burglars who attempted to gain entry to his Cheshire mansion.
Police were called at 7.30pm just after Manchester United’s game with Leicester City had just ended. It is believed thieves chose this time to strike as they knew that the player and family would be out.
This follows similar burglaries of Liverpool players in 2009 who were regularly targeted during their Champions League fixtures.
This recent high profile attempted burglary is a good lesson to us all in relation to home security as it shows that you should try not to share your movements as you don’t know who is watching.
Thieves knew di Maria would be out so you need to do the following to throw them off your track:
Check your settings
Check your Facebook security settings are up to date so that if you do decide to talk about an upcoming holiday only people you trust will be able to read about it. Facebook make changes to their privacy settings several times a year so if you haven’t done it in a while you should review your settings ASAP.
Or say nothing
The best method is to simply avoid posting on social media about where you are going on holiday. Thieves monitor all social media channels for an opening so don’t give them one. In a recent survey 78% of convicted burglars said they had used social media when picking homes to burgle (source: mediabistro.com).
Alter your routine
Being predictable makes it easy for a thief. Millions of people know the movements of footballers as their fixtures are made public but don’t think this won’t happen to you. We’d advise you try not leaving the house at the same time and if you have two cars vary which one you take to work. This will stop a thief learning your patterns of when you’ll be in and out of the house.
Author: Paul Young
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