identity theft

[Patandlinda]

After watching 60 minutes tonight I had a question because program got me thinking . Anyone can join the forum ? So a unethical person would know what and where all the trailers are located ? If they came to your home and you are supposed to have this trailer and it isn't there , you probably aren't home ? What are others thoughts on this ? Pat

[Loren & Cathy]

A lot of trailers including ours is stored away from home so is only there when loading or working on it. But our German Shepard is always home. Loren

[KarenH]

Originally Posted by Patandlinda

What are others thoughts on this ? Pat

I choose not to live my life in fear.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Patandlinda

Anyone can join the forum ? So a unethical person would know what and where all the trailers are located ?

Some people use approximate locations (pick the city hall in your community, or a highway interchange...) for this reason. Similarly, many people put only first names or forum nicknames, not full names, on this map and in other online locations.

Others publish specific and detailed information freely. It's a personal decision.

[escape artist]

Originally Posted by KarenH

I choose not to live my life in fear.

Hi: KarenH... Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by KarenH

I choose not to live my life in fear.

I completely agree.

If you give in to this fear, you are already a victim of crime.

Pretty easy to find and check out anyone's place using Google Maps, and see that they have a trailer. Besides, I would be way more concerned for my house, its contents, and us in it, than a trailer in the yard.

[rbryan4]

Good luck deducing that we aren't home by owner mapping our address and checking for a trailer - since there's no room to park a trailer and we store it elsewhere. Honestly, I think the scenario is highly unlikely, and not worth worrying about.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[cpaharley2008]

and who is to say we did not leave our football playing children at home, the ones who can throw beer kegs 20 yards.....

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

and who is to say we did not leave our football playing children at home, the ones who can throw beer kegs 20 yards.....

Great! Your kids are going to play football with the trailer thieves, maybe offer them a pint or two, before they take off with your trailer. You must have some Canadian blood in your heritage.

[Dave Walter]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

and who is to say we did not leave our football playing children at home, the ones who can throw beer kegs 20 yards.....

Our 250 lb football playing sons and daughters have to stay at home, they have to feed all of our pit bulls, or they would starve.

[Patandlinda]

I asked a serious question ,except for Brian didn't get my question seriously answered , so I need to get it answered elsewhere . Pat

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by Patandlinda

I asked a serious question ,except for Brian didn't get my question seriously answered , so I need to get it answered elsewhere . Pat

Wrong, you got lots of serious answers, but because they did not support your worry, you choose to disregard them. I know I gave a serious answer.

Sure, there was some joking, but as a (mostly) fun loving bunch, we like that kinda thing.

[Loren & Cathy]

Pat. I'm sorry that you felt that I didn't answer your question seriously. What I was saying which was the same as Brian is that most trailers are not stored on the owners premises. So just because the trailer isn't there doesn't mean that the owners aren't home. We have been home all winter and the trailer is stored thirty miles away. And a thief has no way of knowing this.

And the only reason we are not on the map yet is I will figure it out later and don't want to mess it up. The center of the US could use a few more flags. Loren

[LeonW]

Pat, I am sorry you don't feel this question got answered in a serious manner -- but it is not something I worry about for several reasons:

• We don't store the trailer at our home (which is where the pin is)
• Actually the pin isn't really at our house -- it is a couple of blocks away
• When we leave we notify our neighbors who keep an eye on the place, pick up any flyers left in the door etc.
• When we leave we notify the St. Paul Police -- they have a service where either an officer or a reservest will stop by and check the place a couple of times a day
• We make every effort to have the place look occupied. Lights on timers. Let neighbors park cars in driveway. Have P.O. hold mail. Make sure walks shoveled in the winter and grass mowed in the summer. etc.

As a result, we don't worry about traveling and leaving for extended periods of time. If an unscrupulous person joined the forum, they probably could figure out my address via the phone book or online search engines, and probably figure out that I am gone via the "out the back window" posts. But all-in-all, it seems like a lot of effort for these folks to expend.

Also, if the house does get broken into, there is really nothing of value that can't be replaced, and since we are in the down-sizing mode, Lindy would probably be happy that anything they took was gone.

Years ago we purchased a car with a GPS, and the salesman cautioned us against setting the "home" in the GPS citing the notion that would someone would steal the car, drive to our home and loot the home. That made sense to me, until I remembered that if someone wanted to do that our address is also on the registration in the glove compartment.

I hope this helps, and hope you have a clear view of my perspective.

[gbaglo]

I chose not to post, knowing what the response would likely be.

[dfandrews]

Originally Posted by Patandlinda

After watching 60 minutes tonight I had a question because program got me thinking . Anyone can join the forum ? So a unethical person would know what and where all the trailers are located ? If they came to your home and you are supposed to have this trailer and it isn't there , you probably aren't home ? What are others thoughts on this ? Pat

Pat,
I just checked, and your balloon on the map IS in the Simi Valley, but it's probably a couple miles from your home.
I also checked mine, and its in the middle of the parking lot of one of the Camarillo cinemas.
So, as others have said, unless the balloon is actually over your home on the map, there's no additional information the bad guys can extract from the map that isn't already on the forum.

[Greg A]

Pat,
Internet security is a very important issue today and I'm glad you brought this up. Awareness that online venues are scraped by bad guys is something everyone needs to keep in mind when doing any activity online. Recently, I saw an article that indicated there was a crime committed every 40 minutes based on info obtained from Facebook. And that's just one social outlet.

[Patandlinda]

Originally Posted by Loren & Cathy

Pat. I'm sorry that you felt that I didn't answer your question seriously. What I was saying which was the same as Brian is that most trailers are not stored on the owners premises. So just because the trailer isn't there doesn't mean that the owners aren't home. We have been home all winter and the trailer is stored thirty miles away. And a thief has no way of knowing this.

And the only reason we are not on the map yet is I will figure it out later and don't want to mess it up. The center of the US could use a few more flags. Loren

Loren I didn't mean your answer ,to my question . Sorry for that . We do store our trailer at home ,so it is a concern .Big beautiful trailer right there for the world to see . Ever since you have posted on the forum , your answers are valuable and taken to heart . Pat

[Patandlinda]

Originally Posted by Greg A

Pat,
Internet security is a very important issue today and I'm glad you brought this up. Awareness that online venues are scraped by bad guys is something everyone needs to keep in mind when doing any activity online. Recently, I saw an article that indicated there was a crime committed every 40 minutes based on info obtained from Facebook. And that's just one social outlet.

Thanks Gregg for that . We have worked to hard to just sit and be a victim . We are just trying to get the information needed to deal with this new world . Pat

[Patandlinda]

Originally Posted by LeonW

Pat, I am sorry you don't feel this question got answered in a serious manner -- but it is not something I worry about for several reasons:

• We don't store the trailer at our home (which is where the pin is)
• Actually the pin isn't really at our house -- it is a couple of blocks away
• When we leave we notify our neighbors who keep an eye on the place, pick up any flyers left in the door etc.
• When we leave we notify the St. Paul Police -- they have a service where either an officer or a reservest will stop by and check the place a couple of times a day
• We make every effort to have the place look occupied. Lights on timers. Let neighbors park cars in driveway. Have P.O. hold mail. Make sure walks shoveled in the winter and grass mowed in the summer. etc.

As a result, we don't worry about traveling and leaving for extended periods of time. If an unscrupulous person joined the forum, they probably could figure out my address via the phone book or online search engines, and probably figure out that I am gone via the "out the back window" posts. But all-in-all, it seems like a lot of effort for these folks to expend.

Also, if the house does get broken into, there is really nothing of value that can't be replaced, and since we are in the down-sizing mode, Lindy would probably be happy that anything they took was gone.

Years ago we purchased a car with a GPS, and the salesman cautioned us against setting the "home" in the GPS citing the notion that would someone would steal the car, drive to our home and loot the home. That made sense to me, until I remembered that if someone wanted to do that our address is also on the registration in the glove compartment.

I hope this helps, and hope you have a clear view of my perspective.

Leon just saw your answer and Thankyou for your response . Some of these things we already do . Pat