Do not lock, announce vacations or have an alarm installed.

Summer is the peak season for the friends of others. We spend more hours away from home, we dream of vacations and worst of all: we repeat the same tricks year after year to hide our absence. In 2017, there were 105,099 robberies with force in some homes in the United States, according to data from the Criminality Balance published by the Ministry of the Interior.

It is evident that, like the alarms, the thieves also modernized, as well as that of leaving the clothes lying down or turning on a light, it is no longer effective. Therefore, a security company has marked the 5 habits that we commit the most and for which, this summer, they can enter you to steal.

• Thinking that closing windows is like shielding the house. In summer it is usual to leave half-open windows as long as the air circulates, so the measurement is logical: before leaving home, we make sure we have closed well. But turning your house into a bunker while you go on vacation, is not enough or guarantee anything: sometimes it is better to leave blinds ajar so that it seems that someone lives there. Of course, curtains better run so you do not see the interior unless you want your house to be a showcase for thieves.

• Do not lock. It’s a classic: you enter and leave many more times and, half; you do not consider it necessary to lock it. The thieves are not like those of the movies and the majority of thefts come from small oversights. If you want to be another victim, leave your tablet on the dining table and do not lock it. And of course, leave a copy in the mailbox, in a pot or under the doormat.

• Consecrate the holiday posture. To hang a photograph of yourself on a paradisiacal beach is to announce to the hype and cymbal that you are miles from home. Police and Civil Guard recommend not sharing our vacations on social networks: thieves also have Instagram.

• Leave a lot of clothes hanging. Times have changed, but we still maintain obsolete strategies: we do not receive so much mail, but we ask that the mailbox is emptied; we left a sheet lying for two weeks and we hope to cheat someone. An open light can scare away the thieves for a day or two, and even program the television to turn on. But if you believe that these tactics are decisive, you have not understood anything.

• Do not warn the neighbors. Believe that holidays are only yours, is a mistake. Just as they have social networks, the thieves also work in an organized way: for example, placing letters or commercial advertising in a strategic way at the door of the building (thus they check if someone enters). In the same way, some organized bands mark the houses they watch to indicate the times of absence between them. The alert of a neighbor can be decisive to start the police. Find yourself an ally.

There are other habits that can make it easier for a thief to enter your home, they are:

• Do not leave valuables in sight. It’s just about not leaving your most precious belongings in the open, but hiding them well and keeping track of them all (an inventory with photographs, for example). Otherwise, not only leave it to hand, but it will be even more difficult to recover in case of theft.

• Do not install an alarm. The blunder that can be decisive to suffer or not a theft at home is not installed an alarm at home (and we do not speak of an alarm as a deterrent or decorative effect). And if you have it, it should be activated and managed by a professional company, even if it seems obvious. The latest trends in the sector have modernized the warning systems: alarms without direct quotas to the mobile (with Wi-Fi technology), perimeter alarms for the outside, or active alarms, with anti-theft fog generator to prevent the visibility of the thieves. But you do not want any of that.

Remember: the definitive factor to get robbed is time; the easier you put it on the thief, the more likely you are to achieve your purpose.

Returning to your home and finding that you have entered to steal is one of the most painful domestic experiences you can imagine. Inside the lottery that supposes that we have or do not receive unexpected visits, there are a series of factors that influence -and much- in which your house is the one chosen to give the blow.

Today I put myself with you in the mind of the criminal to carefully study the weak points of your house, and thus anticipate your steps. I’m going to ask you a series of questions and, as you respond with yes or no, the possible improvements in security that you can raise will become clearer.

• Is it easy to climb to the inside of your home?

I am especially worried about the low or the first floors. But beware; sometimes it is not complicated to climb up to a second or a third if there are structures that help, such as scaffolding or equipment such as pipes or pipes. The special presence alarms for outdoor can serve to ward off such dangerous interference.

• Do you have a video intercom to identify your visitors?

It is very important that everyone in the community put their grain of sand to try to prevent them from entering unknown common areas, especially at night.

• Does the peephole of your door have full visibility to the outer space?

If in the corridors of the block it is important to be able to identify the visitors, at the threshold of your door it becomes a matter of capital importance. If your peephole does not offer a clear and wide vision, replace it with another one and do not hesitate to put motion sensors connected to a light to improve visibility and frighten off bad intentions.

If these questions are affirmative, you must change your habits and prevent thefts