In our last blog, we talked about how wonderful the Christmas period can be, but how risky too. Burglaries and break-ins soar at this time of year, thanks to the piles of presents and cash criminals know is sitting in your home. Break-ins increase by 20% during December, and the best way to avoid becoming a statistic is by taking some precautions. So today we’ll be sharing some of our festive security tips in part 2 of our Christmas series.

Avoid Letterbox Fishers

One of the ways criminals sometimes gain access to your home isn’t by breaking windows or climbing ladders – it’s by using a key. They do this by ‘letterbox fishing’ – putting a long, hook device through the letterbox and trying to ‘catch’ your keys, or any other valuable items they can reach. This is one of the reasons we recommend not keeping keys or wallets on a sideboard or console table near the door – it makes them too easy to steal. You can get around this by either keeping your doorway clear, or install a letterbox cage. If you have glass doors, make sure you’re not keeping valuables anywhere near your door where criminals can see them.

Be Careful With Cash

It can be tempting to keep cash handy around this time of year, especially if you’re giving cash gifts to family or friends. But keeping large amounts of cash at home is never a great idea, so it’s worth limiting the amount you keep. Visit the bank at the last possible moment, and if you do want to keep cash at home, consider installing a safe to keep it in. Or better yet, write cheques, as this is a more secure way of gifting money.

Keep Calendars Out of Sight

With so much going on at this time of year many families put all of their arrangements on a calendar hung up in the home. But be careful where you hang it. If it’s anywhere near a door or window, then you are potentially giving intruders a chance to figure out when no one will be home so they can break. Instead, opt for using a digital or online calendar that people can access from their phones.

Watch What You Share

We live in a digital world, and a lot of us live our lives online. We love sharing festive photos of us doing things with our family, from picking out the Christmas tree to watching the lights turned on, or gathered around the fire. But if a burglar is targeting your home and has managed to find out your name (through some old post or personal info), they can easily find your social media accounts too. So sharing holiday countdowns or updates is essentially an open invitation for burglar to head into your home when they know they won’t be disturbed.

Keep your Keypad Clean

If you have a digital alarm system (and we recommend you do!), make sure you’re keeping it clean. This has nothing to do with making sure it works, but making sure intruders can’t take advantage of it. If you don’t clean your keypad regularly, it becomes obvious which keys are used all the time, and a burglar can work out your code in no time. Especially since most people are likely to start with lower numbers and work their way up the keypad with numerical patterns. Similarly, don’t write down the code for your alarm system, or keep it near your keypad so that it can be found.

And that’s all from us for 2021! At Securifix your home security is our top priority. That’s why we offer free security consultations and advice, as well as a free walk-around of your property to identify any risk points you may want to address. If you would like to know more, or talk about installing your own home a security system before Christmas just get in touch with the team today.