If you or a family member loses their keys, you must change the locks in the house immediately. Unless you know where the keys were lost, like down the drain or in the lake at your vacation home, you need to take precautions.
Never list your full name on your mailbox or your house. Use your house number on the house and mailbox. Give the ID theft just as little to go on as possible. In the telephone book, use your initial and last name, or don’t put a listing in there at all. With so many of us using cell phones instead of landlines today, it would not be uncommon for you to be absent from the phone book.
If anyone comes to your house asking for help. Keep the door locked and call the police, saying that someone is asking for help. Carry your cell phone with you so that you can make the call right at the door.
When speaking to a stranger at the dooralwaysay keep the door closed and locked and talk through the door with a strong door chain in place. We prefer the locked door. Don’t ever let a stranger into your house, ever!
Don’t let any sales or service people into your house without checking their credentials. This includes if you have just visited your favorite home center and scheduled an appointment for a salesperson to come out and measure for new cabinets. Have them slide their identification under the door or have them hold it up to the glass so that you can read it. Have someone else there with you.
Giving out keys to your home…don’t. This is a problem, particularly if you are a working person and need to let in a cleaning person to your home or apartment. When bringing in a new person, stay home for he first couple of visits so that you can ensure they are good workers and seem honest. Better yet, have your neighbor, one that you trust, let the person in.
Set up a “Nanny Cam” around your desk area in your home to monitor it.
Another problem for working people is letting workmen into the house. Don’t leave a note pinned to the front door where the workmen can find the key. Meet them yourself or have a trusted person let them in. Letting workmen work in your house unsupervised is just asking for big trouble. Even if you know the contractor slightly, you do not know the people working for him. Further, if he brings in, let’s say, a plumber during the job, you know nothing about the plumber’s helper, do you?
Trees near windows present a danger to your house. Consider having them removed or replaced,,d or reinforced the windows.
Always have lights on after dark when you enter the house. Not just at your entrance, but light up the whole area so that you can see if someone is lurking.
Be original when you hide the spare key outside. A burglar who we interviewed several years ago—a reformed one who was working for a security company at the time—nine times out of 10 was able to go right to where the homeowner left the spare key. People do leave them under the mat at the front entrance. Bury it or place it behind a stone in a stone wall. Naturally, a keyless entry solves these problems in different ways. Check out the new locks that connect to phone apps so that you can monitor who is going in and out of your house in real time and determine whether or not the door is locked or unlocked. If you use a keyless entry system, do not use your house number as the code to get in!
Besides the amateur and professional burglar, there is also the home invader. This is the criminal who is looking for confrontation. It could be a drug addict invading the home of a doctor. It could be someone looking for pass codes to your ATM to empty your bank account. Home invaders need to be dealt with on the spot, and you need to plan your way depending on your beliefs and aptitudes. You may want that German Sheppard mentioned earlier, a personal, silent alarm you can use to summon the police or a weapon. Professional gun safety instructors warned us to never get a gun unless you fully intend to use i,t because it could quickly be taken away and used against you. If you do purchase a gun, it must be done to the letter of the law in your state. If you use a gun, it must be done to the letter of the law in your state.
Advanced Home Security Measures to Protect Your Privacy and Property
