Locksmith stickers on front doors

[Vik]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2509221/Burglars-target-homes-marked-stickers-scouts-check-streets-easy-targets.html#comments

I know, I know it's in The Mail so it must be true... BUT... I found one of these stickers on our letterbox yesterday evening, anyone else had one? Can anyone else link to a burglary or know if there's a legit company behind them?

[Loz]

Hmmm. In this digital age, are they going to SMS/email addresses to each other (maybe in coded form for protection from later investigations) or are the going to play hunt the tiny sticker all around the neighbourhood?

As for the chalk marks, anyone would think the Mail had run out of stories and had started recycling them. Four years would normally be a same time, had the internet not been invented.

http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2009/dec/03/burglars-code-chalk-marks-wall

[Capt'n Tortue]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/10456785/Thieves-using-fake-locksmith-stickers-to-mark-houses.html

It's in the telegraph too....

There was a sticker on my mums house in Peckham. I naively thought what I great marketing idea. It's exactly where you want the locksmiths number in an emergency. Needless to say the sticker has been removed from her front door.

[Vik]

Yep, seen the chalk marks one a million times. The sticker one only caught my attention as it was the same sticker we had, what's the story behind them then? Who's sticking them and why? Absolutely agree about the absurdity of the tiny stickers though!

[purplebreeze]

I saw this on BBC news - and followed the link to Wandsworth Council site

http://www.wandsworth.gov.uk/news/article/12081/burglars_using_front_door_stickers_to_identify_easy_targets

so it is worth checking - we have had a couple random people knock on the door the last couple of weeks during the day, when luckily we have been home, so now keeping a watch for any new signs outside. It does say on the Wandsworth site to remove and destroy but I think it would also be a good idea to notify Community Safety Team or 101, esp if they are trying to track intelligence.

Keep safe everyone

[giggirl]

It's nothing new. Been around for centuries.

[deborah.bruce]

Let's all get some chalk and put a circle with a cross through it on our front doors.

[purplebreeze]

deborah.bruce Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Let's all get some chalk and put a circle with a

> cross through it on our front doors.

Oh just chalk a pair of eyes with a slogan 'I'm watching you watching me' ; )

[FatherJack]

Thanks for posting this Vik.

I too had this sticker posted on my door bell, I just assumed it to be canny advertising, regret not dialling number now. But pretty sure same number as article.

[FatherJack]

Let you SNT know if you have one of these stickers on your door/letterbox as they are compiling a database.

[Jeremy]

Why not phone the number - if its a genuine locksmith then surely its legit?

[tiddles]

it's a fake number!!

[JohnL]

story update from wandsworth council website - does this mean they're collared.

STORY UPDATE MONDAY - Since the alarm was first raised at the end of last week, police have received lots of new intelligence about these stickers and are now following up a number of new leads to catch those who are responsible. There is no need to report any further sightings to police. If you find a sticker on your door, the latest advice is to simply remove it and dispose of it.

http://www.wandsworth.gov.uk/news/article/12081/burglars_using_front_door_stickers_to_identify_easy_targets

[El Pibe]

what a load of old tosh.

[Loz]

I've given this a lot of thought and I think I have a solution. It's a bit complex, but I think it covers most situations.

[youandiaredominoes]

I had one. Of these on my intercom system. I first noticed it a few months ago but didn't get round to investigating it, although I was suspicious. Then, yesterday, the Evening Standard had an article about this very subject.

This prompted me to call 101. I've reported it but there's no exactly a great deal they can do. Useful information I suppose.

[StraferJack]

Months ago? And you weren't burgled subsequently

Link between sticker and burglars ever more tenuous

[purplebreeze]

Is this not supposed to be a community sharing website were we all look out for each other or is it that you need to be a bell end all your life and take the piss out of others x we can tell who the bullies were at school cos there still doing it x they could have stickered 100 properties and what burglar can do that many x you twunts x

[Loz]

It is indeed a community sharing website - and when people share stuff like 'people dressed as clowns in ED abducting children in broad daylight' (as has been 'shared' in the past) then people will take the piss. Not a big surprise, really.

But, if you are right (and that's BIG if), look at it this way - a professional burglar has told you your home security is crap. Think of those stickers as being a bit of free consulting from an expert. Do something about it.

[pinecone]

Well said, Loz.

[Penguin68]

Think of those stickers as being a bit of free consulting from an expert. Do something about it.

I believe that the police still offer a service where they not only tell you that you are vulnerable, but suggest also exactly where, and what you might do about it. They might be your first port of call on finding such a sticker.

I can't quite work out the 'modus operandi' which works here - surely there can't be free lance 'pro bono' burglary target searchers doing this out of the goodness (well badness) of their hearts? And if it is a burglar casing the joint, what sort of sieve like memory does he/ she have that he/ she needs to sticker a gaff to remember it?

Unless - they sticker places to see if people bother to do anything about it - stickers left untouched suggest a poor security sense, and hence an opportunity?

This seems of a party with the old 'tramps chalk signs' we used to hear about - which may have existed but not to the extent believed by many.

[Ted Max]

This is all about creating an internal market in burglary services provision.

The previous vertically integrated model, where "cradle to grave" local teams fulfiled all aspects of the breaking and entering supply chain - target identification, resources planning, active burglary engagement, post-intrusion dispersal of goods - was proving too inefficient.

The market consisted of small teams operating as effective local monopolies, often duplicating efforts whilst ignoring national standards of best burglary practice. This led to an overall lowering of standards, inefficiencies in supply (the so-called postcode lottery) and a complete lack of internal accountability.

The path currently being followed is to ensure each commissioning element of the chain can buy-in resources from a choice of autonomous specialist providers. Hence, the consumer has a choice of fences to buy stolen goods from, the fence has a choice at market rate of active engagement specialists, the active engagement specialists have clear goals and objectives set by their commission teams, and can in turn commission services from resources suppliers, as well as community-focussed target identification teams.

This Choice Pathway For Quality is producing real results in a performance-related environment that empowers all stakeholders with greater choice and potential rewards.

[adonirum]

Ted Max strikes again.....absolutely brilliant my friend, just like your posting in reply to mine on the L.L.Shop Service thread. Genius.

[Ruskin]

So the stickers are genuine, says the Standard!

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/mystery-of-burglars-markers-unlocked-8953772.html

[DulwichFox]

If the stickers were genuine they would be stuck on every door, not selective doors.

would be better to use flyers especially if advertising a new business in the area.

But having said that not that cost effective. People do not need the services of a locksmith

like they might need the local Pizza/Curry delivery service.

People requiring the services of a locksmith would simply go on line or use Yellow Pages.

DulwichFox