1. PACKAGING FROM PRESENTS - If you celebrate Christmas in the form of giving presents to members of your household, be mindful how you dispose of product packaging. It’s not uncommon for professional burglars to rifle through your rubbish or recycling in order to find out what value and types of presents might be inside your home. Although it might not seem very practical, the best time to dispose of packaging is the night before your collection day or better still first thing in the morning of collection day.
   
   
2. MAIL - If you’re going away over the Christmas / New Year period arrange for a neighbour or friend to collect your mail and pick up any newspapers or advertising-mail. Burglars look out for houses with overflowing letterboxes and if there’s a pile of newspapers this is a strong indicator there’s no one home so you become an easy target.
   
   
3. TEST YOUR ALARM - Test your alarm system to make sure it’s working properly. Make sure your sensors are all working and that they trigger the alarm system. Now could also be a good time to replace batteries in sensors if the batteries are older than two years. If your alarm system is self-monitored via your mobile phone make sure the SIM card still has credit and that it hasn’t expired.
   
   
4. CHECK YOUR LOCKS - Check all lockable windows and make sure the locks are actually working. It’s very common in summer to unlock key-locks on windows for convenience sake but often we forget to re-lock them. If you’re going away now is a good time to make sure they are correctly secured.
   
   
5. HIDE YOUR KEYS - Don’t leave spare keys including car keys lying around inside your home. It’s a good idea to put any spare keys in a well-hidden location so they are out of sight. If a burglar was to break in and picks up your keys you then have the added expense of changing all your locks and if you have a car parked in the garage it’s likely to be stolen too.
   
   
6. SECURITY LIGHTING - Having a Safe installed is becoming more and more common. The cost of buying a safe has become come down over the last few years and not only can a safe protect your most important possessions from burglary it will also protect them from fire. Safes are easy to use and worth the investment.
   
   
7. SET UP A POWER ADAPTER WITH A TIMER - During holiday times when you\\\'re away consider using a power adapter with a built in timer to plug in a lamp or radio. Set the timer to turn on and off at different times during the evening. This will give the impression that someone is home. You can also do this by using a WiFi controlled power adaptor and you can turn it off and on using your smartphone no matter what your location.
   
   
8. INSTALL A SAFE - Having a Safe installed in becoming more and more common. The cost of buying a safe has come down over the last few years and not a only can a safe protect your most important possessions from burglary it will also protect them from fire. Safes are easy to use and worth the investment.
   
   
9. PHOTOCOPIES OF PASSPORTS - If you're traveling overseas you will obviously have your passport with you. It's a good idea to take a photocopy of the personal information page and store it somewhere safely inside your luggage. This is just in case you have a situation where you lose or have your passport stolen. Having a photocopy can assist you in the need of arranging an urgent replacement.
   
   
10. CHANGE YOUR PASSWORDS - We all know how many passwords, passcodes and PIN’s we need to remember these days and it’s very common to use a slight variation of only two or three of these for different applications. It’s so easy to keep the same two or three for years and years. If you haven’t changed or updated your access codes / PIN’s for a number of years, now is the best time to do it! Cybercrime, identity theft and credit card fraud are all at their highest levels right now. Changing your access codes and PIN’s could protect you from becoming the next victim.

Merry Christmas and best wishes for a safe and happy new year!!!

Nick Butler

Managing Director – Security Alarm Services