I've been burgled, WTF!

Devrij said:
Looking at the door frame, there seems to be a bit where someone forced something between the frame and the door to get at the lock latch so might've found the culprit. Gutted though. Can't afford a laptop now so may have to set her up with a netbook. She's really upset and unlike me, the idea of new hardware doesn't excite her, she's ****ed about her photos, and worried about her future safety.

Thanks for the replies everyone, it's helped her a bit seeing that we're not the only ones who've been done.
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Have you not got contents insurance? It can be got really cheaply nowadays. I've been through Endsleigh before and you can easily get a decent policy for <<£100 per year.

I understand how you feel about the method of entry. It is a terrible feeling just "not knowing how they got in". But over the coming days it will dawn on you, as it did me, that they have simply slipped the lock in 5-10 seconds.

The hardest part for me was getting over the fact that it wasn't a personal attack on you and that you should be thankful that you or your girlfriend weren't in at the time.

Burglaries aren't personal. Don't take it personally, they just saw an easy target and that was that. I'd imagine it is hard for you to comprehend at the moment but the sooner you and your girlfriend understand it, the safer and more relaxed you will feel.

My advice to you now:

1. The police will come round in a few days and will review your properties security for you. Some police forces even provide funding for additional locks on your doors such as night bolts etc, window alarms (cheapy little alarms that go off on heavy impact such as barging a door or banging a window).

2. Get a dead bolt fitted ASAP, tonight! Right now! It will make you feel much safer.

3. The police will also provide you with a UV marker to mark up your stuff. It's only a small thing and is unlikely to yield results if your stuff gets burgled as you probably won't get it back, but in the rare case that it is recaptured, then your postcode in UV on items will get your stuff straight back to you.

4. Tell your neighbours, leave lights on on dark days to make it look like you are in, put lamps or radios on timers to go off and on during the day. It just makes the property look occupied during the day when you are actually out at work etc.

5. Get some net curtains, increased privacy and more difficult to detect whether you are in or not.

6. Put all your documents, bank statements, passports in an ultra safe place, the last place you would think to put them if you were a burglar (and not just the "safe drawer" on your desk!).

7. Go about your daily life as normal, don't try to be home all the time etc, go out shopping on the weekend etc, try and make life as normal as possible, that way you get over it better. I was horrendous for the first couple of weeks but my girlfriend was absolutely solid in support and helped me through it. It affects different people differently.
 
Greenlizard0 said:
*cracks nuckles.*

Yeap I could fap to that. Who is it?
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As mentioned above, its Cheekykid's 'babe' from Romania but as a lot of people are suggesting it may be a scam.....and now this guy's missus laptop goes 'missing' I think there could be a link between these two :D :p
 
Fiocca said:
Just yesterday i was with a locksmith breaking into peoples homes using just a piece of plastic to open the doors within seconds....it's amazing how simple it is to enter property with yale locks.
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Yale locks really aren't worth the metal they were crafted with. They do absolutely NOTHING to offer security of any kind. You may as well not bother as far as I am concerned. I've had my fingers burnt once and it won't ever happen again.

div0 said:
Not to worry you, but remember there is a good chance they'll pop back at a later date on the off chance you've replaced the laptop with a new one. As they know this is the first thing most people will do. If you haven't improved your security, then they may fancy their chances again!
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While this is true, the important part to this statistic is the last sentence you said. If you have visibly upgraded your security then the chances drop drastically! Installing a simply mortice lock reduces the chances by at least 90%.

When the thieves came back to my building of flats, they simply went to another annex (another wing at the other end of the building, its quite a large building too). People in the other annex still had their Yale locks and were just as easy targets as I was, unfortunately.

I wasn't expecting them to take my 42" tv as it is big and bulky. It is worth remembering that IT IS NOT THE RULE that thieves will be put off by big, heavy, bulky objects, but more often than not, they will just be after smartphones, laptops etc.
 
Devrij said:
PSS, we had the curtains shut so no obvious reason why they chose us. Bad luck I guess :(
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Opening your curtains everyday as routine is good practise, it makes it look like the property is actually occupied.

If people see a house with curtains and blinds always drawn then there is the possiblilty that the occupier has not been in the house to do them everyday and is on holiday or something. It's the small things that make small differences.

Net curtains are a brilliant thing to have though. It adds another, no matter how small and seemingly insignificant barrier, another slight doubt to a thieves mind and makes you feel a bit safer. Just make it as difficult as f'in possible for them! :)
 
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Next time install this
http://preyproject.com/
You have a good chance of them logging in and trying to have a look for passwords etc.. If you have this installed you can get the IP address, phone up the police and you will catch the thief in no time. Even if he does not have it when they catch up there is a good chance that it could be proved that he stole it.
 
physichull said:
They are only after cash, a quick buck, something easy to sell, something they can sell quickly. This is most probably why they didn't take my much loved guitar, it is harder to sell, more distinctive and so most thieves won't even bother. Tvs, cash, laptops etc can be sold the same morning.
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Dollfies are safe? ;_;
 
The irony is that we'd been away for a few days (left living room light on to simulate occupancy) and only a day after we're back and we get jacked. We're quite good about security (my missus is obsessive about it normally, whereas I'm usually more relaxed and get bollocked for any lapse), so it just sucks that our locks let us down, as I'm beginning to think is almost certainly the case.

Our flat is a cornucopia of tech goods so I'm paranoid they'll have marked it as a big target to hit. I think I would've cried if they'd taken my desktop so I'll be urging our locksmith to put his primo shizznit on our door.
 
Devrij said:
The irony is that we'd been away for a few days (left living room light on to simulate occupancy) and only a day after we're back and we get jacked. We're quite good about security (my missus is obsessive about it normally, whereas I'm usually more relaxed and get bollocked for any lapse), so it just sucks that our locks let us down, as I'm beginning to think is almost certainly the case.

Our flat is a cornucopia of tech goods so I'm paranoid they'll have marked it as a big target to hit. I think I would've cried if they'd taken my desktop so I'll be urging our locksmith to put his primo shizznit on our door.
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Pad lock the tv to the wall mount.
Put safety glass covers on the windows so that it takes much longer to break ( ~ 1 minute longer, they will usually scatter off)
Double or even triple locks that are a decent standard.
Get some blinds and perhaps tell your neighbours that you were burgled
Install Prey software on all desktops/laptops/phones
 
Devrij said:
The irony is that we'd been away for a few days (left living room light on to simulate occupancy) and only a day after we're back and we get jacked. We're quite good about security (my missus is obsessive about it normally, whereas I'm usually more relaxed and get bollocked for any lapse), so it just sucks that our locks let us down, as I'm beginning to think is almost certainly the case.

Our flat is a cornucopia of tech goods so I'm paranoid they'll have marked it as a big target to hit. I think I would've cried if they'd taken my desktop so I'll be urging our locksmith to put his primo shizznit on our door.
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Mate, I've been there, totally understand what you are thinking right now but try not to let it worry you. I was in pretty much EXACTLY the same boat as you last November.

All those questions went buzzing around my head about why they didn't take my passport, why they didn't take my girlfriends camera and that they have now had a good chance to look at all the stuff I own and will come back for the rest. Just up your security a little bit and try not to worry about it. If they want to get in, they will get in, you just have to make it as hard as possible for them next time.

The likelyness is, that if you take all the obvious steps straight away, they won't be back again.

Get your locks done ASAP, number one priority and do it tonight, 24 hour locksmith should fit you a decent lock for about £70.
 
Devrij said:
Our flat is a cornucopia of tech goods so I'm paranoid they'll have marked it as a big target to hit. I think I would've cried if they'd taken my desktop so I'll be urging our locksmith to put his primo shizznit on our door.
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No need to be paranoid. As I've already said, you need to be aware that there's a reasonable chance they'll pop back at some point and check out whether you've made any changes to your security or not.

If you have, then they'll almost certainly just go elsewhere.

Once you've been burgled, it's easy to think that they'll target you again - or that your stuff is worth so much to you, that they'll be back for it. But that's not the case - they are just looking for minimal risk targets.

If you make it harder for them, then they will look for easier targets.
 
div0 said:
No need to be paranoid. As I've already said, you need to be aware that there's a reasonable chance they'll pop back at some point and check out whether you've made any changes to your security or not.

If you have, then they'll almost certainly just go elsewhere.

Once you've been burgled, it's easy to think that they'll target you again - or that your stuff is worth so much to you, that they'll be back for it. But that's not the case - they are just looking for minimal risk targets.

If you make it harder for them, then they will look for easier targets.
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Spot on. Good post.
 
Thanks all for replies, found our front door to the block of flats had a big chunk chiseled out of it so there's our point of entry, and then must've used a card to get in our front door as everyone suspected. Feeling a bit more comfortable knowing how they got in and that it's easily prevented with a decent lock next time. Thanks all for the posts, been a great help.

Now, spec my gf a cheap lappy/netbook!
 
Lesson's I learnt following being burgled in October last year.

- An alarm is a good investment, particularly if you have decent neighbours. Now mine is installed, if it goes off my neighbours are down in seconds to check it out.

- Even locked windows may not stop them, in my case I had window locks but the force applied snapped the wood around the screws. Lesson learnt - get more secure locks and more of them!

- Yale locks are pointless on their own. In my case even though the door wasn't the point of entry, the buggers locked me out by putting the snib on the Yale (I have a 5 bitty mortice thingy too which was locked so they couldn't get out the door). I had to get a locksmith out to let me in as at that point I hadn't considered the possibility I had been burgled. He had this little device he put through the letterbox and had the snib down in seconds, it could just as easily have been the handle. These are commercially available!!

- Try not to get too paranoid, as people have pointed out burglars are complete opportunists. If your property has more security/higher risk of being caught they will probably go target somewhere else. However there is a good chance they will come back for a look.

- Consider getting a FakeTV, this simulates the flicker glow and colours of a television set. Point it at a window and when it's dark it looks like the tv is on. This is important as nearly all TV sets won't work on a timer switch and burglars are aware of this

- Get timers for lamps in various rooms that can be customized for each day of the week. This is better than leaving a living room light on full as it's obvious when it never goes off.

- Get insurance! Mine more than paid for itself, I lost about £4k of gear in mostly electronics and an expensive bike.

- WARN YOUR NEIGHBOURS!! When I was done, 2 other flats were done within the space of a month. One of them twice and the other one the guy was scared off the second time.
 
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