Social Media Burglary: What Is It?

Do you know what social media burglary is?

If you do but you’re not taking measures to avoid it, then read on. If you don’t know what social media burglary is, then you definitely need to read on.

Every day people who share lots of information about their lives on social media are making themselves vulnerable to burglary. Publicising your valuables and your movements isn’t a great start. But geo-tagging – the location stamp that can be added to photos online – is what gives smart criminals the additional info they need to track down you, your house and your belongings. That’s what social media burglary is. If you’re a social media user and you own expensive jewellery or watches – then you could well be at risk.

So, the key is to be smarter than the criminals, and keep your personal information hidden so you can dramatically reduce or remove the chances of social media burglary.

Think before you share

None of us would dream of posting a photo of ourselves alongside expensive jewellery onto Facebook along with your address and schedule, would we? But it’s surprisingly easy to do something very similar across a variety of posts. If your settings aren’t fully private, you could well be creating a trail of breadcrumbs for a resourceful criminal. If you’ve given hints as to where you work, and your day-to-day habits, then you’ve given them more than enough information to plan a robbery on your home.

How vulnerable you are to social media burglary depends on many factors, but the best way to avoid being targeted is to give away as little information as possible online. 

Beware new purchases

If you’ve bought a gorgeous new item of jewellery, it’s only natural to want to show it off with a cool selfie - and that’s especially true of wedding or engagement rings.

If you want to share something special more safely, there are two key ways to help keep your possessions safe.

Firstly, head to your settings and turn off any location-sharing features. As we mentioned, the geo-tagging can show everyone where you are, and give away details of where you live and when you’re not home.

While you’re there, update your privacy features so you’re not making those posts visible to people outside your immediate friends group. That’s because a quick glance at your house through Google Street View will also help a burglar ascertain whether your property looks easy to burgle or not.

These kind of protective measures are always important, but they’re particularly essential if you’re planning a holiday and want to avoid being a victim of social media burglary while you’re away…

Holidays

It’s now second nature to tell everyone about our day-to-day life on social media. Indeed, most of us wouldn’t think anything of seeing a friend’s posts about an upcoming holiday, then photos of them on the beach and some glum photos at the airport coming home.

But this kind of insight is a dream to any would-be burglar. They can track your address and likely valuables list from past posts, and monitor the perfect window to commit social media burglary just by checking your “can’t wait for this holiday” posts.

It sounds scary, but it’s just a matter of being careful – as careful as you would be with locking your doors when you leave or keeping valuables safe whilst wearing them out and about.

Simply put? Don’t tell potential thieves about your new valuables online (either by increasing your privacy settings or being more careful what you share).

What’s more, definitely don’t tell the world when you’re going away on holiday or coming home.

And above all? Make sure that you have the right kind of insurance for your valuables. None of us can ever be 100% safe, no matter how careful we are, so the best way to guard against any social media burglary misfortune is to take out great value insurance cover with Ripe Insurance for Valuables. Get your perfect cover today so you can enjoy your summer breaks without worry.