GPS Safety

[Mutoman]

A few months ago, my son's car was broken into while he was visiting a friend across town from where he lives in Portland. He caught the thief in the act, but not before he had taken his GPS navigation and a few other things. My son was able to get a description of the guy but like the police said, it is going to be very difficult to find him in a city of thieves. The douche-bag did drop his key chain full of shaved keys that he apparently used to steal cars.

Zoom forward, of course the police never caught the guy: no leads, needle in a haystack, etc... Last week my son's roommate came home from work, went in to grab a few things for his trip back home (North Bend), and was in the house for about five minutes. When he went outside he discovered in that five minutes someone had broken into his truck and stole some items, including his wallet (he's been well brow-beat for leaving his wallet in his vehicle). The thief didn't even try the unlocked doors, he just broke out the window to access the goods.

Police were called. Son's roommate called the credit card company to report his card stolen and they told him the card was being used at that very moment at a Target store not far from their home. After telling the police this and getting the report done my son and his roommate drove over to the Target to try to get some info. They talked to a security guard who told them that they had been watching the guy who was using the credit card because he was acting suspicious. They took pictures of him and followed him around (of course he was able to leave the store before any of this valuable information was collaborated).

The guard would not let the boys see the surveillance tape; however, as my son described the guy who had broken into his car months before; the security guard confirmed it was the same guy.

Moral: Don't assign a "HOME" way-point in your GPS, criminals will follow you home eventually. The two occurrences were three-months and ten or so miles apart. The Bass-turd came back to retaliate for loss of his keys.

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[Redcap]

People like that eventually end up as a stink in the woods.

 

[Member 5605]

OK,

LEO's are worthless when it comes to that very thing.


My example:
I was working in Frederick MD.
Our apartment was broken into at night when we were there. The thieves stole two laptops, and my wallet. They left a cup on our coffee table. WITH THEIR PRINTS. We called the LEO's there. They arrived, we filed the complaint etc.

Fast forward to noon. I have already canceled my cards. One of the thiefs used my debit card to get gasoline at a local WAWA or something that we would stop at every morning. They got $36 worth of gas. How long does it take to pump that much? 5 minutes???

I was able to get the EXACT time from VISA that the card was swiped. I got the information, passed it along to the local LEO's. I went to the store and asked if they held the tape and if so for how long. They said they kept them on file for 3 weeks. It was one week from the transaction.

I called again the LEO's this time his direct line and left him another message. Told him they had two weeks to get the tape before it was overwritten. NOTHING HAPPENED.

I went to the store manager. Asked him if I could see the tape. NO was my answer. I asked him with money. Still no.

WTF? Did this guy know him?

I had a crew of 50 guys living in that town on the job we were at. Any and all of them would have helped recover. I had multiple ex felons who went to the big house due to gun charges and they would have found the people... and I don't know what would have happened to them...


Long story short. This is why I will carry. I do not trust that the LEO's will arrive in time and do what they need.

I have no trust in the police force in Maryland or here.

 

[OFADAN]

Yep, good advice on not planting a waypoint in a GPS that takes threats back to a safe location. In our Wilderness Surivival course we discuss how to program a GPS and other items like maps so it will be an asset and not a liablity.

We use the same basic protocol as the Army Special Forces uses to teach their men to program devices that could end up in enemy hands....you don't want it to track you back to a rally point, hide, home, safe house or cache.

 

[NoAim]

Or, if they steal your car, they just open your glove box and look at the registration address.

I think this is a non-issue.

 

[Mutoman]

Or, if they steal your car, they just open your glove box and look at the registration address.

I think this is a non-issue.

Would be a non-issue if most thieves were really that clever; I think this type of thing is mostly and afterthought when the device is in hand.

 

[wayoutwest]

Funny this comes up now, I received a forwarded (several times) email from the in-laws this afternoon

I want to give you a heads up on what happened to me this week. I
> will try to be brief but there is a lot to tell.
>
>
>
> I drove myself and two co-workers to lunch Monday. I chose a parking
> spot in the rear of the lot and backed into a space (no pull through
> available at location). This positioned my Chevy Avalanche with the
> passenger side doors facing away from the rest of the lot and to the
> end of the lot. I had a Sony digital camera lying on the console of my
> truck.. Upon returning from lunch and entering the vehicle we noticed
> nothing wrong or missing from the vehicle. Tuesday around lunch time I
> needed the camera and could not locate it. My first thoughts were, "I
> moved it or it fell to the floor mat or I removed it from my truck."
> After searching feverishly for two days, questioning anyone who had
> been close to my truck, and exhausting every possible location I could
> have put it, I begin to have that sinking feeling I lost it or someone
> took it. My new Garmin GPS had been in the truck the whole time, so I
> felt as if someone had entered my vehicle they would have taken it
> also. Fast forward to Wednesday, I approached my truck from the
> passenger side to place my computer bag (aka my man purse) in the
> front passenger seat. As I reached to open the door I noticed there
> was a hole right under my door handle. My first thought was, "someone
> has shot my truck!" I began to think about it and inspect it a little
> closer and the lights slowly began to come on. I phoned my friend who
> owns a body shop and asked if he had any vehicles with damage to the
> doors that looked like a bullet hole. "Yes, I see it all the time.
> Thieves have a punch and place it right under the door handle, knock a
> hole through, reach in and unlock it, just as if they have a key. No alarms, broken glass or anything.
>
>
>
> I then placed a call to my insurance agent, who is also a friend, and
> explained it to him. I proceeded to tell him the situation and how I
> was puzzled that they left my GPS and all other belongings. Here is
> where it gets scary! "Oh no, he said, they want the break-in to be so
> subtle that you don't even realize it. They look at your GPS to see where "home" is.
> Now they know what you drive, go to your home, and if your vehicle
> isn't there they assume you aren't and break in your home." He says
> they will even leave a purse or wallet and only take one or two credit
> cards. By the time you realize there has been a theft, they may have
> already had a couple days or more to use them. This is another reason
> they want the break-in to go unnoticed. I didn't realize my situation for two full days!
> They even give you the courtesy of re-locking your doors for you. I
> guess they don't want it to be broken into by other thieves!
>
>
>
> Please remove from your GPS unit your home address as "home" ASAP! Put
> in your local Wal-Mart or something! Park your vehicle in a highly visible
> place. I positioned mine perfectly for them and didn't realize it until it
> was too late. I hope this is beneficial to you and helps you keep your
> valuables in your possession and your vehicle from damage. Most
> importantly, it may keep the thieves from showing up at your home

 

[Scott]

Put in a password like mine. 99% percent will never get it to work. Mine also has a secret location if you forget the password. You drive around and select a location and you have to be within 10 yards and it will unlock.