The website pleaserobme.com (http://pleaserobme.com) gained a ton of media attention simply because it scooped up all of the public tweets, check-ins and status updates of people mentioning that they were away from home and posted them online.
When the website was showing actual real-time updates, it was staggering. It was a constant stream of people over-sharing online and an excellent eye-opener for the average person. All it takes is opening your social network up to one acquaintance – that person you met once at a party, that friend of a friend – and you could be opening yourself up to being robbed.
Do you use a geo-locator (Facebook places, Foursquare, etc) and have it share your address online, Tweet how great the beach is in Aruba, mention that you are planning a trip to Disney for spring break?
All of these status updates alert those in your social network that aren’t your best buddies that the time may be ripe to go snag that iPad you keep raving about or that gi-normous flat screen you keep talking about when you share with Into Now (http://www.intonow.com/ci ).
– My main rule to keep you and your home safe is simple: Keep your social networks exclusive to “friends only” or never share anything personal regarding your location.
– Go to Pleaserobme.com and type in your online aliases to see if you are sharing too much info about your location.
– Be extremely careful with the information you give out via updates on social networks.
You never know who may be watching you for the chance to burglarize your home!
Stay safe out there!
Tracy