Owning valuable possessions can bring joy and excitement, but safeguarding them from burglars is a significant challenge. A user asked the forum, “Former burglars, where is one place people should never hide valuables?” Here are the top responses.
JEWELRY BOX
“My cousin lives in a bad neighborhood, so she went to a thrift store, bought an obvious-looking jewelry box and a bunch of expensive-looking costume jewelry that’s worthless, and put it in the box.
She keeps this in a conspicuous place. Then she leaves a few 20s on top. If someone breaks in, they will grab this and run, ignoring some of her well-hidden valuables.”
CLOSETS
“Closets, gold mine for jewelry.”
VACUUM CLEANER
“Inside vacuum cleaner. We hid money in it, and it got stolen with everything else in the house back in Syria. The ‘thief’ was the military force that invaded the area, not someone I know or someone desperate.”
UNDER THE POT PLANT
“Don’t keep the spare key near the front door.
Under the pot plant, the door mat, the top of the door frame, etc.”
IN YOUR CAR
“Don’t hide, but don’t leave stuff in your car. When I was in high school, we did our fair share of burglaries,” a user said.
“Don’t keep your textbooks in your car for the college kids that might read this. On the day of my finals, I had about six textbooks I would sell. After my finals, I left the books in my car while I took my tests.
I returned to find someone who broke my window out to steal the textbooks. Cop told me it’s widespread and unlikely they will catch the guy, so I was out $700, which was huge as a college student,” another added.
INSIDE SMALL LOCK BOXES
“Inside one of those small lock boxes. It’s great when you find one because they’re simple to open, and if they don’t have a wall safe, then all of their main valuables and money are usually in it. Jackpot.”
FAKE ROCKS
“Fake rocks are a dead giveaway. Sock drawers are cliche. We are taking that thing if you have a small safe that’s not bolted down. We all have a ‘safe guy.’ Our goal is to get in and out pretty quickly. If you hide something in a random box up in your attic, it’s probably safe.”
ANY SAFE
“Any safe that’s not bolted down and is small enough for 1-2 people to carry isn’t safe.
Also, my ex’s grandfather had a safe stolen from his home that was bolted down.
The thieves wrapped a chain around it and ran it out the window to a truck. Burgers took the safe straight through the wall. All they had to do was follow the drag marks, though. But still.”
DON’T LEAVE BOXES OF NEW PURCHASES OUT
“Don’t leave things out that people can see outside your home or car. If you buy a new television or computer, break down the box. Don’t just leave it in your garbage bin.”
NIGHTSTAND
“We had our apartments stolen; four flats were in the area. The guy kicked down the door and was apparently in and out quickly. I came home from work, and the cop told me never to leave valuables on my nightstand.
He might have even said bottom drawer. Sure enough, mine were checked; I could tell because my envelopes were moved from where I placed them.”
IN FLOWER POTS
“Don’t put your money in flower pots or wrap it in duct tape.”
KEY RACKS OR BOWLS
“Don’t use keyracks or bowls next to the door! Don’t leave any bags or containers in view in your car! The number of stolen cars where the burglar takes one step into the house, picks up the keys to the family car, and leaves immediately is just sad.”
IN OVEN OR MICROWAVE
“Not a former burglar, but my house was robbed before, which made my dad want to hide his work laptop the next time we went out. Little did anyone else know, he decided to hide it in the oven. We only realized this after my mom finished cooking dinner and smelled something strange.
He should have learned his lesson then, but maybe two months later, he hid a laptop in the microwave because you can’t miss it when it is the only thing in the microwave, right? Later that day, my sister needed to use a minute timer to get something, so she just hit the 1-minute button on the microwave without checking. Trying to hide laptops cost my dad 2, so maybe don’t hide them there.”
INSIDE OLD BOXES
“Don’t try to hide something valuable like money inside of old boxes. When I was younger, I thought hiding money inside an old headphone box would be a great idea because no one would expect to find it there.
We lived in a village, and we had to burn a furnace to keep the house warm, and my mother almost put that headphone box with money inside the furnace, but they’ve just fallen out on the floor.”
YOUR FREEZER OR CEREAL BOX
“Not a burglar, but my ex was, and your freezer or cereal box is not a good idea. Neither are books for cash.”
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This article was originally published on Mrs. Daaku Studio.