25 People Share Smart Tips On How To Safeguard Your Home From Theft

When your home’s security is compromised, it can feel deeply unsettling—a violation of your most private sanctuary that often leaves lasting trauma. To prevent robbers and petty burglars, it’s wise to take proactive steps to maintain a baseline level of protection. While the average thief might not be especially clever, they can quickly adapt to changing circumstances.

#1

Image source: anon, Kenny Eliason

If you open your door and a $1/2/5.00 etc, bill floats down, somebody is targeting your house.

When I was a precious angel, I used to wedge a bill on top/side of the front door. I’d check again in the early hours to see if the money was taken or put back in the wrong place. If it was, I’d leave the place alone.

I’d recommend if it happens, wether it be money or other that falls when you unlock the front door, to let the police know someone is targeting houses for a robbery.

#2

My experience with a burglar:

Went downstairs in our shared student house, went to the utility room to get a frozen lasagna, turned around where the back door is and above the back door is a window, where a man all dressed in black had his torso through the window, with a stick.
He was swinging the stick at the sliding door bolts to gain entry.

It was so surreal I just looked at him and said “what are you doing?”. He briefly looked up and started wiggling a lot, trying to wriggle out of the window. I then spent what felt like ages, shouting obscenities at him until he wriggled out and ran away.

So when a burglar is half way through your window; that’s a sign.

Image source: Thecurtain80

#3

Image source: ikilledtupac, Jack Gardner

Someone rings your doorbell and runs away at 2am.

If nobody turns the light on, they do it one more time. If no light again, they assume house is empty and kick in the door.

Door to door alleged sales people posing as alarm system or satellite installers.

Besides that, not much.

#4

Image source: nanogh, kenkreie

Markings in chalk! Like a small x somewhere you wouldn’t notice! Common where I live….

#5

Image source: anon, Daigoro Folz

Obligatory “not a burglar”, but my aunt’s house was burgled three times, twice while I lived there. One sign is: your pets acting weird. The day my aunt left out of town, my cousins came to pick me and my sister up and her dog would NOT come into the house. He ran outside and hid under a bush. We suspect the burglar was either inside the house at the time (there were many hiding spots), or around the corner of the house, hiding.

Either way, next day my sister and I get home from school and the cops and one of my other cousins are there because the neighbor noticed the front door was open.

#6

Not a burglar, but a learned burgled person. But this one was pretty remarkable, and it is something you wouldn’t consider probably.

Patio furniture/lawn chairs.

Now you are probably thinking “…huh?” but keep reading because this was some genuinely crafty stuff.

My friend and I rented this house in a questionable area. We didn’t have much of a front yard, but we had a little concrete area for smokers to sit at outside with a plastic table and 2 chairs. For about 3 weeks, every time I’d come home from work (and I worked 60+ hours a week) I noticed that one of the chairs was slightly out of position. It was hardly noticeable; it looked like a raccoon had glanced it or twisted it slightly, or that someone had sat down and backed out of the chair improperly. Each day I would come home, I would just reset the chair out of place a bit.

As the days went on, the chairs got more and more blatantly moved. We started attributing it to the wind. It was particularly drafty by our front door, so we rationalized it that way. One day I came home and the chair was completely knocked over. I still thought nothing of it, as the persistent, gradual changes seemingly led up to this moment. “Here we go again..” I thought.

The next day, when I came home from work, my back door had been kicked in. There were 4 guys in my apartment, one of whom pointed a gun at me when I ran away. The others ran away too, but the guy with the gun followed me, pointed it right at me, and definitely seemed to be considering ending me strongly. However, his friends were screaming “Yo man don’t do it wth are you doing lets go man!” He lowered the gun and ran away to the getaway car.

When the officer came, he asked if there had been anything unusual around the house. I thought it a really odd question because what constitutes “odd”? I mentioned the chair and the furniture and the Officer just paused, exhaled, and went “Oh. Yeah. That explains it.” I was really confused what he could have possibly gathered from furniture. So I asked him “Can you please explain? I am not following you…”

“These burglars, we have seen this before. The flip furniture and move things around as a presence test. The idea is that, if someone is home, they will see the out of place object and move it back. They also do this to learn your schedule. For example, if they move the furniture at 2and come by at 6pm returned to it’s original placement, they can reasonably assert that you get off work before 6pm. They probably cased you for weeks to get a feel for who was home, what your schedules were, how many of you lived there, etc.”

In disbelief, I just kinda crumpled to the floor. It wasn’t animals, it wasn’t the wind, it wasn’t roommate lethargy… we were active targets. When my roommate arrived and I told him this, he turned ghost white. “I came home to the chairs several times being totally flipped over… i thought you had done it the whole time.” We both just sat there in silence when we realized how long this had been going on.

TL;DR: Burglars can use your own property to scout, mark, and learn about the best time to rob your home. If things are routinely out of place, be careful.

Image source: Cymdai

#7

Image source: Laikitu, RutherfordRevelation

My neighbour got robbed because he installed a dog flap.

I.e. he put a man-sized hole in his door.

We don’t even live in a particularly nice area.

#8

Image source: Leallame, Kampus Production

A common scam in my neighborhood is to come to the door trying to sell a security system and try and get you to let them in and talk about what you need. This way they find out about what kind of security you already have. Some come as proselytizers too, carrying a bible and dressed nice, then they ask for water or to use your bathroom so they can get in and case your place.

#9

Most property crimes are crimes of opportunity.

Lock your doors.

Lock your windows.

Close your garage.

Image source: jalif

#10

I live in South Africa, and crime here is pretty rampant. A sign that someone will break in, is when you possess anything of value :-)

I laughed a bit at some of the comments below, since the recommendations have proven not to work here.

Here’s what works in order to prevent a burglary: **Layer your security measures.** What does that mean?

– Have electric fencing around your property, hooked up to your alarm system. The shock won’t keep anyone out, so it has to trip your alarm system. Make sure the fence is properly installed, against the outside of your wall, with the top part angled away from your wall.

– Have beams and other passives around your garden, covering all windows and doors. I use Paradox’s PMD85 and NVR780 for this.

– Security gates on each and every door and window around your house. Don’t buy cheap c**p, install only the best. You are hoping that your alarm system was triggered by either the fence or the sensors outside while they struggle with the security door. The security door buys you time, nothing more. A normal door won’t take them more than a couple of seconds to open, no matter what you have.

– Inside the house, have more passives and beams, preferably pet-immune ones. This is only useful if you have…

– …another security gate installed, which partitions your bedrooms from the rest of the house. This is to buy you additional time whilst authorities are on their way, assuming they even made it past the outside measures.

– If you think dogs will protect you, keep them inside. Dogs kept outside in my area, are routinely poisoned. This has happened many times.

– Our police are useless, so we make use of local security companies. Pick a local one that has offices in your suburb, so that their reaction time is short. For instance, I would not use Chubb or ADT. Their reaction times are 15-30min, whereas my local company takes 2-3 minutes. Without having your alarm system hooked up to a security company, all of the above is for nothing. It will just take the burglars longer to get in.

– CCTV cameras also act as a deterrent. They might not even try to come in if they see those mounted around your property.

I have had one attempted break-in over the past year. The burglars had cut my electric fence and floodlights, climbed over the wall (tripped passives), just popped open my normal door and were busy with the security gate, when the armed response showed up.

Image source: Yster21

#11

Image source: 012617, George Becker

If your neighbor gets robbed in broad daylight, you have to assume you’re next.

I once lived in a converted garage behind a house. My four roommates all lived in the main house. I was unemployed for several months and since I had no kitchen in my shack, I’d go in and out of the main house often. The landscapers knew I was there and anyone watching from the street could have seen me puttering around. One day my neighbor told me she’d been robbed in the middle of the day and asked me if I’d seen anything, which I hadn’t. But you bet as soon as I moved out and my four roommates were left without me home all the time, they got robbed almost immediately. At 4:00 in the afternoon.

#12

Image source: chornu, Pavel Danilyuk

Not a burglar but lots happens in my area.

• People coming by who are either sketchily fundraising for something or “working for so-and-so company” when you weren’t expecting anyone. They’re casing your house and figuring out when you’re home. They’re also probably figuring out the best way in and out of your place.

• Leaving boxes of big ticket items visible in your garbage or alley.

• Depending on who/where, sometimes they’ll stake out near your home or do drive-bys several times to see when you’re home.

#13

Image source: anon, cottonbro studio

One common tactic I know is that they will ring your doorbell and wait to see if anyone answers. If someone answers they know that someone is home and make up some stupid excuse as to why they ringed it. Something “oh I thought this was X’s place” – which rarely occurs in the first place since people always double check apartment number when visiting for first time.

If they know no one is home, they’ll break in.

This happened to a string of apartments when I was in school and there was a reported number of thefts. When he rang my doorbell I didn’t think much of it. But later I realized it was the same robber trying to target my apartment. I gave a report to the cops about what this person looked like – turns out others reported him too. [He] was caught by a patrolling cop car roaming the sidewalk trying to rob homes. He was arrested and I think he’s doing hard time now.

#14

Image source: holomntn, Guillaume Meurice

Not a burglar, but grew up as the “rich” family in a rough area, we were burgled several times.

I noticed that most burglars are not exactly intelligent. It is a high risk occupation that does not pay well, don’t expect the best and brightest to do it.

If you look carefully you’ll see things being tampered with. Your gate will be opened and not shut, random extra trash for no reason, that’s them casing the place checking to see if there’s anything visible. They also like to shift things to see if they can create a blindspot to break in.

Some things you can do to prevent it, basically the things I wish my parents did when I was growing up.

Your best bet is just to slow them down. Make it faster for them to target someone else and they will.

There are window coatings that resist breakage, if you live in a high risk area get these.

Dual pane windows. Only slows them down but they’re looking for quick in and out.

Window locks. Sure they seem like stupid little whatevers, but they slow down entry.

Any recessed doors should have security screens.

Be friends with your neighbors. They are the most likely to be the burglars, you don’t rob friends, and if there is an issue a friend is more likely to interrupt.

Keep clear visibility to your windows from the street. Windows that are not visible from the street are where they will break in.

Keep garbage cans away from windows.

Keep expensive objects out of windows.

If someone is a known thief don’t invite them to move in. Yeah that’s probably the biggest problem my family had.

Really anything you can do to make the burglars more visible or to slow them down deters them.

#15

Image source: Billy_Grahamcracker, 20thcenturystudios

Often, we’ll pretend to be policemen and “check up” on resident’s security measures. Often, they’ll tell us they’re going on vacation, especially during the holidays. We often case the neighborhood in a plumbing van to see if there is much activity like having lights on or parties with oddly stiff dancers. We prefer backdoors and basements entries. Be especially alert to a rash of flooded houses, a classic sign of burglars, particularly around Chicago.

#16

Not a burglar, I swear, but my neighbour had the bulbs on his motion sensor lights that were facing his garage loosened the day before they broke in and stole his ATV. So you might want to watch out for “burnt” bulbs.

Image source: Lotsofkidsathome

#17

Image source: ballinlikewat, Dillon Kydd

If you get home and your garage door opener doesn’t work, there is a chance you are in the process of being robbed or were just robbed. Burglars will pull that cable in the garage so the garage door doesn’t work that way they have more time to get away if you come home while they are still there.

#18

A bad thief leaves a sign that he’s going to rob someone but I can leave you a beavy of tips.

Lock up or put away your dam ladder.

Buy good locks on your front doors and all other doors add a deadbolt.

A safe should be anchored in the bottom floor of your house, (and never shown).

Don’t announce your vacation on social media.

Trim your hedges.

Add a dot of glow in the dark nail polish to your deadbolts ( so at night from a distance you can see if you locked your doors).

Keep your camera’s hidden, high and with an offsite backup.

Motion sensors floodlights for your door, garage and all other doors.

Put a good strong door with a deadbolt in your master bedroom.

Get solar powered lawn lights (preferably with replaceable batteries).

Even if you have a security system get a few security cameras that you can remote into via smartphone. (They even sell them at best buy).

Add a thorned bush underneath your windows.

If your house has a wall that can be jumped from a street or alley way, either add thorned bushes or shovel out a dip every half foot or so. ( You’ll break a leg if you hopped it).

Don’t expect your dogs to do [anything] unless you’re home.

Image source: mindfulmu

#19

Not a sign but a tip coming from someone who made this mistake.
Be friendly with your neighbours but don’t give them too much information about the security of your home.

We had an attempted break in. They only damaged a door they couldn’t get through. Went to see if they neighbours saw anything and happen to mention a window was open during the attempted break in and laughed about it as we were lucky the attempted robbers didn’t notice.

The next week we were broken into. Through that window. An ipod along with some cash and other valuables were taken. Did a “Find my iphone” on the ipod and sure enough it was next door. We called the cops but they said they couldn’t do anything as it wasn’t enough proof (our houses shared a wall). Previously our neighbour was super friendly to us and after this break in completely ignored/avoided us. 99% sure it was her and nothing could be done.

Be careful what info you give to neighbours!

Image source: ashleighclair

#20

The direct opposite of a burglar here (ex cop)

Most burglaries are opportunistic (i.e. Someone noticing an open window with valuables on display while walking past) and it is very unlikely your house will be targeted, because why yours when they could go choose an open window down the street?

Your best method is prevention, now while it’s good to have alarms and good locks, you should also practise property awareness, ensure everything is locked before you leave the house, try not to leave valuables on display, particularly in the summer when you have your windows open, and if possible, leave a hallway light on during the night which looks like you’re still awake.

If you notice any strange activities, i.e. someone stopping and looking through your window/taking pictures, then report this activity to the police.

Image source: MichaelMoore92

#21

Very few references to CCTV in here, my dad’s place got broken into the day before the sale closed, likely by the previous owner. (bank repo).

He installed CCTV cams all over the property and hasn’t had an issue since.

They are really very inexpensive, you can get a full set of 8 cameras at costco for under 1000$ us last time I looked, with a NVR. The hardest part is stringing the wires, so if you arent handy you may have to pay someone.

It goes without saying that you need to stream at least motion events to an offsite location however, as it is possible a burglar could just take your recordings.

The added benefit is you get recordings of every time you wipe out shoveling the drive way, or when the purolator man throws your package at the door and runs away instead of placing it down like a non-savage.

Image source: anon

#22

Signs painted on or near buildings/residences that are deemed to be ‘easy pickings’, so to speak. Also signs that act as warnings. For example, the sign for ‘alarmed’ looks like a W with a line drawn horizontally across the top, while a simple X could mean a good target.

This is true where I am in England, but I know not whether these symbols carry over to other countries.

*not a former burglar. I would be wealthier if I was. I would also have a cat called Dingo who would help me on my missions.

Image source: Snapnall

#23

Image source: iraddney, Alena Darmel

If you’re moving into a newly built complex, CHANGE THE LOCKS. Just over a year ago, my housemate and his girlfriend came back to our place to find that laptops and jewellry had been nicked, and there was no sign of forced entry – also we live in South Africa, so doors are *always* locked.

Turns out the builders were cheap, and used the same three types of locks for the front doors. Strongly suspect that ex-employees of the company did a short term rental of a unit (three months probably) and just took notes of everyone’s comings and goings. Then just wander to a unit, try one of the three keys and then casually stroll out with a laptop bag stuffed with goodies. We weren’t the only unit to be hit, and the HOA only sent out a notice to be vigilant after I spoke to the niece of one of the people who were on the board.

Also, security gates are nice.

#24

I believe that more often than not if there’s an unsavoury character in your life, he or she will be involved.

My best friends brother is a known ]illegal substances] user. Good guy but goes off on binges that lasted months at a time. That being said I would play guitar with him and another guy who plays a mean fiddle.

Anyways one late night we were done jamming and out of nowhere the junky says, man if I didn’t know you what a score this house would be. The comment raised my eyebrow but I felt secure because I knew him and his family really well. Well when I got home on a beautiful sunny summer afternoon back door window was smashed in. I lost guitars, pedals, amps, laptops, dvds and more. They even took a jar of old weed roaches out of a drawer in the living room. They went through everything. Talk about feeling totally violated. First thing that came into my head was that night and the guys name. I called him under the guise that if heard anything let me know.

Luckily and unfortunately he was on a bender and junkies are idiots. He calls me back a couple hours later saying bro I’m looking at your stuff but I had to pay for it to get it back so you owe me this much money. I played broke, said I’ll pay you when I get the cash. Dummy gives me almost everything back. I had to write the rest if it off when he called looking for money and we told him [buzz off]. So long story short, he was hard up for cash, sold my house info to dealers for whatever fix. They robbed my house and then he thought I would pay him off, double score! I’m still bitter because he still got some nice stuff but I suppose I’m grateful I got the important stuff back.

Edit: By the way they used my own luggage to pack my [stuff] up and carry it down the street.

Image source: BattleSquirrel

#25

No quality burglar is going to give you signs, but I can tell you that attracts a good one. If you have no large dogs/noisy dogs, no visible alarm system that makes noise(we wouldn’t care if someone had silent alarms, because we would be in and out before police even got the dispatch call after the security company got in touch with them) and its a decent size place that’s well kept and you have expensive cars there when home. Bonus points if you commonly leave windows open so burglars can peek in with binoculars and see that you have things worth taking.

Pretty much, if you have anything worth taking, or your home looks like it does, get a couple of big dogs inside (if they stay outside they just get food [with illegal substances]) or a NOISY alarm system. No one wants to break into a place where neighbors attention/a nearby patrol car may hear an alarm. Being faster than the dispatch call doesn’t help if a cop happens to hear it from a block away.

Image source: Shumatsuu