Thursday, March 11, 2010

electronic gadget security advice

GPS
A couple of weeks ago a friend told me that someone she knew had their car
broken into while they were at a football game. Their car was parked on
the green which was adjacent to the football stadium and
specially allotted to football fans. Things stolen from the car included a
garage door control, some money and a GPS which had been
prominently mounted on the dashboard.

When the victims got home, they found that their house had been ransacked
and just about everything worth anything had been stolen.

The thieves had used the GPS to guide them to the house. They then used
the garage remote control to open the garage door and gain entry to the
house. The thieves knew the owners were at the football
game, they knew what time the game was scheduled to finish and so they
knew how much time they had to clean out the house.. It would appear
that they
had brought a truck to empty the house of its contents.

Something to consider if you have a GPS - don't put your home address in
it. Put a nearby address (like a store or gas station) so you can still find
your way home if you need to, but no one else would know
where you live if your GPS were stolen.

MOBILE PHONES
This lady has now changed her habit of how she lists her names on her
mobile phone after her handbag was stolen. Her handbag, which contained
her cell

phone, credit card, wallet... Etc...was stolen. 20 minutes later when she
called her hubby (husband), from a pay phone telling him what had happened,
hubby says 'I received your text asking about our Pin number and I've
replied a little while ago.'

When they rushed down to the bank, the bank staff told them all the money
was already withdrawn. The thief had actually used the stolen cell phone to
text 'hubby' in the contact list and got hold of the pin number. Within 20
minutes he had withdrawn all the money from their bank account.

Moral of the lesson:
Do not disclose the relationship between you and the people in your
contact list.

Avoid using names like Home, Honey, Hubby, Sweetheart, Dad, Mom, etc....

And very importantly, when sensitive info is being asked through texts,
CONFIRM by calling back.

Also, when you're being text by friends or family to meet them somewhere,
be sure to call back to confirm that the message came from them. If you
don't reach them, be very careful about going places to meet 'family and
friends' who text you.

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