Truth 9 Home burglaries and identity theft

When your home is robbed, it’s a traumatic time. You feel violated and begin to play the “what’s missing” game. Often, people do not realize everything that was stolen until months or even years later. I remember the first time our house was robbed. I was about 6 years old, and the burglars came in through my sister’s window. They ended up getting away with a few items of value, but it is safe to say they were not going to be living life high on the hog after that heist. Well, that theft was a long time ago, and through the years, both security systems and criminals have changed.

Today’s burglar has learned from the mistakes of the past. Today’s burglar is after more than your television, your DVD player, or your fine silverware. While in theory it’s great to steal a plasma TV, the logistics of unbolting it from the wall, being inconspicuous while carrying it out of the house, and having a big enough vehicle to haul the sucker away in a hurry make for a difficult process. Then you have to find a place to pawn it while running the risk of getting caught. While you may ultimately end up making a few hundred bucks, the amount of work you just put in is more than if you had just served fries at McDonald’s for a few days. But what if there were something that you could steal that was small enough to stick in your pocket, worth more than all the items in the house combined, and was extremely difficult for authorities to track down? Turns out the high-tech burglar is doing just that.

Recently, I was doing a segment for a TV show in which I had hoped to stage a home break-in to demonstrate the kind of job today’s burglar might pull off. Unfortunately, between the lawyers and the insurance companies, that segment was never aired. However, I can still share what we did and what we had planned to do.

The break-in

For this test, a pair of my friends agreed to let me rob their home. All they were told is that I would break in and rob their home. They were not told what I would be looking for, when I would do it, or what my ultimate goal was. Of course, I guaranteed that anything that I “borrowed” would eventually be returned.

Just a few days later, I was in their kitchen going through each of the counter drawers. I guessed I had at least an hour available since they had left only minutes before heading out to what I assumed would be dinner. I was trying to locate their bills and other documents. Most people keep some level of paperwork either in or near the kitchen, and it seemed like just a good a place to start as any.

After just a couple minutes in the kitchen and not finding what I needed, I moved from room to room opening every closet door and going through every box I could find. My goal? I was on a hunt for social security numbers. I was pleasantly surprised when I came upon a box labeled “tax returns,” which was stored on an overhead shelf in one of the closets. Inside was the jackpot: I found complete information including their names, address, social security numbers, and even their employment information, including salary. I had everything I would need to continue my master plan.

I snapped off a few photos using my camera phone and put the items back in the box. Since I found that box within 15 minutes of entering the house, I figured I had time to continue to poke around. In their home office, I found an envelope from the DMV that contained driver’s license renewal information, meaning I had their driver’s license numbers. Another camera phone picture, and I was back to searching. Also discovered during my search were both of their birth certificates, which I took. After about 45 minutes, I tidied up a little and left. The only sign I had been there was the screen missing from the window in the bathroom and a small stuffed dog that I moved from its perch on the couch to its new location on the front porch.

When they returned home and saw the stuffed dog on the porch, they assumed I had been there and decided to call me to find out what I had done. I explained that I had burglarized their home per our agreement. They said they had looked around and didn’t think anything was missing. Of course, nothing of note was missing, but they had just been robbed. Were I an identity thief, I would have just gained enough information to obtain a new driver’s license under their names, get an apartment, open new credit cards, purchase a car, get a job, and even get arrested—all under their identities. Of course, had this been a real burglary, the homeowners would have been left to assume that the would-be thief must have been scared off before he could actually steal anything. They would continue their lives without the slightest suspicion of the bad credit that was awaiting them in the near future.

Safeguarding confidential documents at home

People never think they will be the victim of a home burglary, yet the FBI reports that a home in the United States is broken into every 14 seconds. This means that while you have been reading this Truth, five homes have been burglarized. While taking proactive steps to protect your home from a burglary is important, it is just as important that you are taking the steps necessary in the event that your home is burglarized.

Anything that contains your social security number, driver’s license number, or other financial account numbers should be kept in a secure place such as a safety deposit box at the bank or a small safe. If you don’t have access to either of these, you can hide the documents in a mislabeled box such as baby pictures or kids poems. But I recommend shredding any documents that contain confidential information unless they are absolutely critical to keep.

As for documents that you must store, simply removing or scratching out the confidential numbers is a great way to prevent the information from falling into the wrong hands.

In the event that your home is broken into, immediately cancel all your credit cards, and notify your financial institution of a possible security risk to your account. In addition, contact one of the big three credit reporting agencies, and have it put a security lock on your social security number. This prevents an identity thief from opening any new credit on your account.