I received this email message today--is it for real or urban legend?
Snopes says its a little of both.


Wednesday, I approached my truck from the passenger side to place my computer case in the front passenger seat.

As I reached to open the door I noticed there was a hole right under my door handle. My first thought was, "someone has shot my truck !"


I began to think about it and inspect it a little closer and the "light" slowly began to come on.

I phoned my friend who owns a body shop and asked if he had any vehicles with damage to the doors that looked like a bullet hole.

"Yes, I see it all the time. Thieves have a punch and place it right under the door handle, knock a hole through, reach in and unlock it, just as if they have a key.

No alarms, broken glass or anything.

I then placed a call to my insurance agent and explained it to him I was puzzled that they left my GPS and all other belongings.



Here is where it gets scary !

"Oh no, he said, they want the break-in to be so subtle that you don't even realize it.

They look at your GPS to see where "home" is.

Now they know what you drive, go to your home, and if your vehicle isn't there they assume you aren't and break in your home."

He says they will even leave a purse or wallet and only take one or two credit cards.

By the time you realize there has been a theft, they may have already had a couple days or more to use them.

They even give you the courtesy of re-locking your doors for you.

Periodically walk around your car, daily if you are in a shopping center or other parking area.

Report thefts immediately....your bank w/missing check numbers, your credit card agencies, police, and insurance companies, etc.

(Below is picture of what the hole looks like)

http://i955.photobucket.com/albums/a.../doorpunch.jpg


Don't label your Home on your GPS!

 

http://www.jimmijammer.com/Product,%20JJ.htm

Creating a hole to get to the locking rod is a very common technique. Other thieves try to hide the theft by punching the whole handle in.

 

Wow, good info. Thanks for the thread and the pic!

 

geez. there gettin pretty tactical with all this stuff nowadays.

 

..

 

To be honest, I don't see this happening all too often. I am sure it does happen, but most criminals want a quick grab. They aren't likely to go through that much work to find out where you live.

 

damn dude. if someone I worked with did that to my vehicle there's would soon be altered in a much more serious way (up on blocks, everything unplugged, tires removed and deflated). Honestly I repay evil for evil in such a scenario simply because I have but a big chunk of change in this truck and really hate *******s

 

It happens a surprising amount of time. There are a lot of F-150s floating around Austin that have that hole, or a door handle punched in. Yes, it is destructive, but I'm pretty sure it can be done pretty quickly (screwdriver or pocket knife, then needle nose pliers to open the door), and car thieves really don't care how much they trash someone's vehicle.

Because this is known to most street scumbags, Ford should add more than just a stock perimeter alarm. They should have a piece of metal guarding the locking rod that would require more than just a screwdriver to bypass.

 

Parking Valet's use the 'home' setting on the GPS all the time. While parking the vehicle, they punch in 'home', call a friend who then breaks into the house, who also knows what kind of vehicle the owner's drive and they are not home at the time.

This info was on a TV show, probably 5 years ago.

Best to punch in a nickname for your home location.

 

if you dont know where you live and have to use gps to get there, your dumbass deserves to get robbed, haha!