I regularly see these emails floating around with different “smart thieves” stories. I don’t know how true the stories are or if they are even true at all. However, I think it makes sense to be aware of the possibilities and protect yourself. The scriptures say “…if ye are prepared ye shall not fear.” I had an identity thief emailing me the other day for sensitive client information. It didn’t seem quite right, so I stopped by and visited that client. They knew nothing of the request and turned out someone had hacked their email. As the Turtle Man would say, “Live action!” Here are three other stories about “smart thieves.”
Thief 1- The GPS thief. So I guess someone had their car broken into while they were at the local high school football game. Their GPS was stolen, as was their garage door opener. Yep, you know where this is going. When the victims got home, and yes their football team won, their house had been ransacked and pretty much anything that was of value had been stolen. The GPS guided the thieves “home”.
Moral of the story: If you have a GPS, don’t plug in your own home address on your GPS. Plug in a nearby address, like the gas station or something. That’ll get you close enough to home without giving away your actual residence.
Thief 2- The Purse Snatcher. This lady at the grocery store left her purse sitting in the cart while she grabbed something off the shelf and had her wallet stolen. She, of course, reported it to the security man there at the store. Later on she received a phone call from the store saying they had found her wallet and it was there for her to pick up. While she was gone her home was burglarized. The thieves impersonated the store and waited for her to leave to do a grab-n-go.
Moral of the story: Be smart! If something of yours goes missing, don’t be so overjoyed when it turns up that you let down your guard and get in an even worse mess.
Thief 3- The Cell Mate. Another purse stolen. The gal called her husband from another phone 30 minutes later, since her phone had been in her purse. He told her about the text he had received asking about their pin number. He kindly reminded his “forgetful wife” and thought he was good. The thief, in the mean time, had emptied their account. The thief had just texted “hubby” and obtained the information needed.
Moral of the story: Don’t use pet names or anything that would disclose a relationship between you and the people in your contact list. Especially loved ones! Also, if sensitive information is being requested via text, call back and confirm that the text is coming from who you think it is.
About this Author: Ed Kinsey has been in the financial services industry since 2003. He has experience in Real Estate, Mortgages, Commercial Finance, Annuities, and Life and Health Insurance. His goal is to benefit the lives of one million people. He want companies to start providing better benefits at lower costs through our services. He wants to enlighten people to the retirement benefits available through life insurance, the only tax free retirement option. We have secure solutions. Ed is also a world ranked powerlifter and fitness enthusiast.
Thief 1- The GPS thief. So I guess someone had their car broken into while they were at the local high school football game. Their GPS was stolen, as was their garage door opener. Yep, you know where this is going. When the victims got home, and yes their football team won, their house had been ransacked and pretty much anything that was of value had been stolen. The GPS guided the thieves “home”.
Moral of the story: If you have a GPS, don’t plug in your own home address on your GPS. Plug in a nearby address, like the gas station or something. That’ll get you close enough to home without giving away your actual residence.
Thief 2- The Purse Snatcher. This lady at the grocery store left her purse sitting in the cart while she grabbed something off the shelf and had her wallet stolen. She, of course, reported it to the security man there at the store. Later on she received a phone call from the store saying they had found her wallet and it was there for her to pick up. While she was gone her home was burglarized. The thieves impersonated the store and waited for her to leave to do a grab-n-go.
Moral of the story: Be smart! If something of yours goes missing, don’t be so overjoyed when it turns up that you let down your guard and get in an even worse mess.
Thief 3- The Cell Mate. Another purse stolen. The gal called her husband from another phone 30 minutes later, since her phone had been in her purse. He told her about the text he had received asking about their pin number. He kindly reminded his “forgetful wife” and thought he was good. The thief, in the mean time, had emptied their account. The thief had just texted “hubby” and obtained the information needed.
Moral of the story: Don’t use pet names or anything that would disclose a relationship between you and the people in your contact list. Especially loved ones! Also, if sensitive information is being requested via text, call back and confirm that the text is coming from who you think it is.
About this Author: Ed Kinsey has been in the financial services industry since 2003. He has experience in Real Estate, Mortgages, Commercial Finance, Annuities, and Life and Health Insurance. His goal is to benefit the lives of one million people. He want companies to start providing better benefits at lower costs through our services. He wants to enlighten people to the retirement benefits available through life insurance, the only tax free retirement option. We have secure solutions. Ed is also a world ranked powerlifter and fitness enthusiast.
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