POLICE ISSUE VIRTUAL WARNINGS
17th November 2006
POLICE ISSUE VIRTUAL WARNINGS
Robberies rise as thieves shop on-line.
If you are a thief, please do not read this article.
Police in Victoria have traced a number of home robberies back to 'virtual tours' on real estate web sites.
Apparently, thieves (with the unwitting assistance of dim-witted agents) are checking out the contents of homes on the internet, selecting those with the most desirable possessions and then robbing the homes.
It's a form of on-line shopping for burglars.
To assist the thieves even further, some agents are providing floor-plans on-line which the thieves can take with them so that, once they break into the homes, they know their way around. It's a similar concept used by friendly tour guides who supply maps to visitors.
If they wish to do even more research, thieves can, of course, have a personal tour of family homes prior to robbing them. All they do is turn up at an open-for-inspection, give a false name and gain entry.
Some of the more stupid agents (okay, most of them) will gladly point out the location of any burglar alarms.
Spokespersons for the real estate industry (and most agents) continue to deny that the security and safety of family homes is a problem.
Typically, agents will tell concerned sellers something like, "I have been selling real estate for 20 years and have never had a problem with thieves."
Any sellers, however, who ask the same agents to indemnify the sellers against loss from theft will receive a blustering refusal.
So, how widespread is the problem? How real is the threat?
Well, in one day in just one area recently (and within a two-hour period) two separate homes were robbed. Thieves kicked in the doors and stole plasma TVs (from both homes) plus video cameras, digital cameras and a laptop computer.
Both homes had been advertised with virtual tours on the Internet.
Police have now issued a warning. The real estate industry has said nothing.
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This news article was taken from the News page of the Jenman website.
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