Is your Facebook post safe Is Your

enough that you don’t have to

worry when you leave home? Facebook
Think about it before you
make that post on your Status
Facebook profile or your next
update could read “My home
Putting You
got burglarized while I was at Risk?
gone. So now I have to use WARNING
someone else’s computer to
post this.” Be careful what information
you post on your Facebook
profile. It could mean disaster
for you.

Who is reading your

Printed for English 102 status and what are
their intentions?
Why would Facebook present
risks for me?
People of all ages use Facebook to
socialize. Therefore the risks
involved with crimes related to
Facebook users could include you.
What you think is a way of telling
others about your personal life
could create risks for your family
that you never imagined.
What are the risks?
One type of status update that can
be risky is the ever-common post
about going somewhere which tells
people that you won’t be home.
This kind of information has
resulted in burglaries of homes of
innocent Facebook users. The
following news story gives an
example of this.
NEW ALBANY –“A New Albany
woman claims a man who added
her as a friend on Facebook
burglarized her home Saturday
after she posted a message that
she and her fiancée would be out
for the evening.”
“McMullen believes the man read
her posting online that she and her
fiancée would be at a concert and
knew the home would be empty.
Making it easier to find the home,
McMullen said her husband’s work
van sits in the front driveway.
She also had posted images of her
home, including some high-priced
items in the home.”
THACKER, MATT. "New Albany
woman claims Facebook ‘friend’
burglarized home - Home security
cameras catch burglars in the act."
Evening News and Tribune
(Jeffersonville-New Albany, IN) 23
Mar. 2010
What can I do to keep it from
happening to me?
Use good judgment about not only
what you post on your profile, but
who will be reading your posts.
Nicole Marshall offers these tips:
--Never publish your full address on
Facebook or any other social
networking site.
--Before leaving home, secure all
windows, including those upstairs,
and cut tree limbs away from
second story windows.
--Turn your telephone ringer down
so no one outside can hear
repeated rings, and review your
answering machine message to
make sure that it doesn't imply that
you are away.
--Never leave a key hidden outside.
Burglars know all the hiding places.
--If you have a security system, ask
your alarm provider about wireless
backup or Web-enabled security in
the event that your phone line fails
or is tampered with and so that you
can receive alerts via your cell
phone or other device.
Marshall, Nicole. "Social-networking
posts can update burglars, too."
Tulsa World (OK) 05 Sept. 2009