Going on vacation with the children, or sometimes for a long time when you are retired, is a source of stress. Now is the season for burglaries. A third of them occur during the summer. Discover in this article our advice to limit the risks. Read the guide!
Burglary: divert attention
Several details can effectively suggest to burglars that a house is uninhabited. You can now thwart these pitfalls by, for example, transferring your calls from landline to your mobile.
Indeed, to prevent the phone from ringing in a vacuum, play with the programming of a light or the TV so that a lamp lights up regularly, or a program is audible.
Watch out for burglary! Don’t let the mail pile up! In this case, you can actually ask a third person to take it up every week or have it forwarded. Also, if you have a garden, do not leave anything that could facilitate the work of a burglar, tools, ladders, etc.
Getting along with the neighborhood
To make sure everything is okay… Ask a neighbor to come around your house every day. Ask him, ideally, to open the house and the shutters from time to time…
If he is indeed a trusted person, leave him a copy of your keys. And offer him to take care of his house during his holidays. Attention ! No question of leaving them in the mailbox or hiding them in the garden!
Now, it’s the best way to establish a relationship of trust and reassurance while avoiding a burglary. In addition, you can contact your town hall to ask if partnerships between citizens are already in place to alert any suspicious behavior in your neighborhood.
Beware of the sticker scam
The latest find of burglars, especially in large cities, is actually to stick advertising stickers generally touting locksmith services. The latter put them on the doors to see if they are unstuck or not… a good sign of absence! To avoid any kind of burglary, make your neighbors aware of this new technique.
Opt for house sitting
Burglary: indeed, this is one of the motivations of people who entrust their house for vacation time in addition to caring for animals: to ensure that the house will not be visited.
Burglary: notify the authorities!
Also to more or less avoid a burglary… Do not hesitate to report your absence to the authorities, via the summer operation “Tranquillité vacances” so that they patrol more in the sector. However, this does not guarantee you the absence of 100% problems… But it is still quite a deterrent. The process is free and fast.
Moreover, the form (called OTV) is available in the police station and the gendarmerie brigade near you. Also online, for Paris and the inner suburbs at https://mdel.mon.service-public.fr
remember to fill it out at least three days before you leave on vacation. And don’t forget to notify the gendarmerie if you return earlier than expected!
