The fake locksmith sticker that could mark you for burglary

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  • Slarti BartfastSlarti Bartfast Posts: 6,607
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    Sophisticated? More like needlessly convoluted and conspicuous! I'm no burglary expert (honest) but I can think of far more subtler ways of identifying and targeting properties than this. Amateurs!
  • Si_CreweSi_Crewe Posts: 40,202
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    Now the cops just need to slap them on a few empty buildings filled with napalm.
  • sodavlacsodavlac Posts: 10,607
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    I don't get it.

    Why not just burgle the property there and then if the house is a good target?

    If they have to use scouts, why couldn't the scout just tell the burglars the address of good properties instead of putting a sticker on the property that the property owner is probably going to remove if they see it? It could also get washed off in the rain.

    If they're hard to notice then how are the burglars going to spot the stickers without looking dodgy?
  • Tony TigerTony Tiger Posts: 2,254
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    Was gonna say is this anything like the old chalk code myth but the DM handily referenced it for me :D:D
  • heikerheiker Posts: 7,029
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    I found one of these stickers on my letter box about two to three weeks ago. Ripped it off, binned it, thought nothing of it so forgot all about it.

    Now I find that the Media has gone totally nuts about it :confused:

    The stickers are so tiny and the text on them so small, I can't believe there's a burglar in the country with good enough eyesight to spot them from any distance.
  • d'@ved'@ve Posts: 45,452
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    sodavlac wrote: »
    I don't get it.

    Why not just burgle the property there and then if the house is a good target?

    If they have to use scouts, why couldn't the scout just tell the burglars the address of good properties instead of putting a sticker on the property that the property owner is probably going to remove if they see it? It could also get washed off in the rain.

    If they're hard to notice then how are the burglars going to spot the stickers without looking dodgy?

    My thoughts exactly.

    Seems a bit of an odd story really, unless the newspaper managed to obtain and post the reasons why the burglars have adopted this approach, which they didn't. It would appear to increase the chances of someone being reported for acting suspiciously - once at the sticker stage and again at the burglary stage, makes no sense at all as reported.

    Or perhaps we just don't think like a burglar! :D
  • ArmiArmi Posts: 3,317
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    Officers believe that ‘scouts’ place the stickers on properties they deem to be vulnerable, after checking whether the owners are at home during the day and if windows and doors are locked.

    So they even do bob a job for burglars now?

    :(
  • Doctor_WibbleDoctor_Wibble Posts: 26,580
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    heiker wrote: »
    I found one of these stickers on my letter box about two to three weeks ago. Ripped it off, binned it, thought nothing of it so forgot all about it.
    We had one of these appear quite a while ago - though the last 3 digits are different.

    I haven't tried calling the number but any starting with 0203 are (as far as I know) 'virtual' London numbers which might end up anywhere (I know of at least one that ends up in Dubai for e.g. and FS). Has the phone number really *never* existed? Did they even try it?

    We already had a locksmith sticker left just by the buzzer which hasn't fallen off yet, so another one isn't exactly an item of major suspicion.
    Now I find that the Media has gone totally nuts about it :confused:
    Yes - wait, hang on - the stickers "have already been linked to one local burglary". One? Wow. That's an incredibly damning bit of correlation there.
    The stickers are so tiny and the text on them so small, I can't believe there's a burglar in the country with good enough eyesight to spot them from any distance.
    Quite - perhaps just maybe possibly it's a bit of advertising using transparent stickers such that people don't complain about lowering the tone or even in flats the residents might think it's something official because it doesn't at first glance look like some random spam-sticker.

    Or it's all true and everyone here needs to have their blunt instruments available...
  • jrajra Posts: 48,325
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    Tony Tiger wrote: »
    Was gonna say is this anything like the old chalk code myth but the DM handily referenced it for me :D:D

    You learn something new every day.
  • ianxianx Posts: 9,190
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    This sounds very similar to the 'dog-napper' stickers myth that was going around Facebook a few months back...
  • NortherlyNortherly Posts: 1,232
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    I will look at this after I smoke my banana skins and get as high as a kite factory
  • FizixFizix Posts: 16,932
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    Thieves have always done this sort of thing haven't they?
  • ArmiArmi Posts: 3,317
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    The vast majority of burglaries are done by individuals who work alone and target properties at random.
  • tealadytealady Posts: 26,262
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    According to the local paper here, one village was experiencing stickers being put on the doors, to illustrate whether the householder was on holiday. Not entirely convinced - might have been the JWs !!
  • heikerheiker Posts: 7,029
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    heiker wrote: »
    I found one of these stickers on my letter box about two to three weeks ago. Ripped it off, binned it, thought nothing of it so forgot all about it.

    Now I find that the Media has gone totally nuts about it :confused:

    The stickers are so tiny and the text on them so small, I can't believe there's a burglar in the country with good enough eyesight to spot them from any distance.

    My neighbour's just posted on Facebook that she's had one too.

    Newshopper is reporting that a Bexley woman removed some 70 from neighbour's houses:

    http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/10819205.Burglary_scare_inspires_Bexley_Good_Samaritan_to_remove_fake_locksmith_stickers/?ref=mr
  • Doctor_WibbleDoctor_Wibble Posts: 26,580
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    ... any starting with 0203 are (as far as I know) 'virtual' London numbers which might end up anywhere ...
    Sorry for the self-quote but in the interest of self-correcting, I hadn't realised that 0203 (or rather 020 3) numbers are 'proper' numbers, just that there's a whole plethora of virtual-number services selling these in addition to them being allocated to real phone lines.
    And it's not new either :o
    From Ofcom in 2005 : Guidance to Communications Providers on applying for 020 3 London numbers

    And a side reference to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UK_telephone_code_misconceptions

    Are these stickers really anything other than physical spam? Others might not be of course.
  • Smiley433Smiley433 Posts: 7,854
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    If they want sophisticated, the burglars should use QR codes stuck to property. Then a quick scan of the code would take you to a website and show possible entry points, when it was last burgled, photos of interior and location and description of any pets.

    Then on the way out, the burglar scans it again, checks a tick box on the website which indicates to the insurance company that a claim might be forthcoming, and the police can then follow up with a "caught" indicator and what the burlgar's sentence was (if applicable).
  • CryolemonCryolemon Posts: 8,670
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    Smiley433 wrote: »
    If they want sophisticated, the burglars should use QR codes stuck to property. Then a quick scan of the code would take you to a website and show possible entry points, when it was last burgled, photos of interior and location and description of any pets.

    Then on the way out, the burglar scans it again, checks a tick box on the website which indicates to the insurance company that a claim might be forthcoming, and the police can then follow up with a "caught" indicator and what the burlgar's sentence was (if applicable).

    Lol, sounds like a modern tech version of something teh Thieves Guild from the Discworld novels would do.
  • xp95xp95 Posts: 2,439
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    Northerly wrote: »
    I will look at this after I smoke my banana skins and get as high as a kite factory
    Let us know how it goes, won't you? ;)
  • pixel_pixelpixel_pixel Posts: 6,694
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    The chalked symbols have been around for decades. Different shapes/meanings. Thanks for the link though.
  • HypnodiscHypnodisc Posts: 22,728
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    The chalked symbols have been around for decades. Different shapes/meanings. Thanks for the link though.

    Can you give any source for this?

    I've forwarded the whole thing to Snopes.com.

    Something smells more than a little bogus around here.

    Burglars don't work in cooperatives or unions, and certainly wouldn't want to help out another competing thief.
  • xp95xp95 Posts: 2,439
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    Hypnodisc wrote: »
    Can you give any source for this?

    I've forwarded the whole thing to Snopes.com.

    Something smells more than a little bogus around here.

    Burglars don't work in cooperatives or unions, and certainly wouldn't want to help out another competing thief.
    Some where I live used to! :eek:
  • HypnodiscHypnodisc Posts: 22,728
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    xp95 wrote: »
    Some where I live used to! :eek:

    Why?

    I don't doubt some work in organised gangs, but what the article is insinuating is completely unrelated people are marking houses for burglars that they don't even know.

    Why would they do that? It makes no sense.
  • Richard46Richard46 Posts: 59,830
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    I think it's an arts project. Obviously makes no sense as a crime.
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