Really freaking out right now...

[EmeraldRose]

So, we were sitting at our dinner table just now, when I looked out the front window to see a red car pull up, roll down the window and take a picture of our house! Then they rolled up a bit, and took another picture, and drove off. We didn't see their plates, as they were directly out front from us, and I'm not exactly sure what kind of car it was...

The police can't do anything, as we didn't see the plates, but said we could call 911 if we were really upset, and an officer could come take a report. They also said we should call back if they came back again.

Clearly, they have done nothing yet, but I'm incredibly worried they may have been casing our house! They also took pictures of our vehicles, which are both parked out front.

Our house is on the corner of a busy street, with easy access to a highway...

I'm so very freaked out! :eek:

Has anyone else had anything like this happen?

[Quirinus_Obsidian]

Can't say that I have had this exact occurrence, but; I've been on the receiving end of some rather freaksome encounters.

Was driving home from work one day; this id10t in a pickup truck was tailing (when I say tailing, I mean that he was within 3 ft. of my back bumper) me for literally, the time that I drove out of my parking lot for a few miles. I lost him though, I took a major highway straight north, even into Maine and then he got upset and pulled a u-turn and left. I ended up 35 miles from my house. called the cops on him twice. When he saw the flashing lights heading our way...

[Crow]

Do you have any reason to believe somebody may be casing your house? Other than having seen somebody take a picture of it? Do you have large amounts of firearms, drugs, or other things which would be valuable to somebody on the streets? Does anybody know that you have these things? Are there nice vehicles parked out front often? Are you "loaded" and everyone knows it?

If you've answered no to all of these, then you probably don't have too much to worry about. Lock your doors and windows, don't leave your garage open. It won't stop a determined burgler, but if you don't make yourself a "target of opportunity", you should be alright. Look into getting a good dog (not a shihtzu), and investing in a worthwhile security system.

Have you pissed anybody off?

[Solo]

If you already have guns, store them in safes and separate from the ammunition, except for the guns you will have near/around you in case something actually does go down.

[EmeraldRose]

@ Crow..we've only just moved in a week ago. It's possible they were driving taking pictures of lots of vehicles and homes, not just ours. They could clearly see into the house, as it was getting dark out, and the light was on inside. I mean, there's still tons of boxes and stuff everywhere.

As far as a reason for someone to want t break in? None at all! It was that it was so completely random that I'm so freaked out!

...Andre said the same car just drove by again.

EDIT: @^..we don't have any guns.

[Nychta]

That is... more than a little odd. Get a nice big dog, but only if you can look after it properly. They're great deterrents. Also, those fake "CCTV" cameras are pretty cool.

After much thought and consideration, I now think that you have started to be plagued by reporters. Done anything famous lately?

[rubakhin]

It's possible that they could just be photographers who found the scene particularly interesting, for whatever reason they may have. This sounds like the behavior of a couple photographer friends of mine. Some people lose their heads entirely when they stop the car and snap a couple pictures somewhere, even though all they want is a good shot. Maybe there was a flock of birds on your roof or a cool-looking cloud formation, etc.

[Crow]

@ Crow..we've only just moved in a week ago. It's possible they were driving taking pictures of lots of vehicles and homes, not just ours. They could clearly see into the house, as it was getting dark out, and the light was on inside. I mean, there's still tons of boxes and stuff everywhere.

As far as a reason for someone to want t break in? None at all! It was that it was so completely random that I'm so freaked out!

...Andre said the same car just drove by again.

EDIT: @^..we don't have any guns.

It sounds like they might have been looking at an old rental paper or real estate mag and don't know that the house now has new tenants. It could be that they think you're moving out, and they fancy themselves the next tenants.

Unfortunately there's nothing we can do if somebody is just driving around taking pictures. Keep an eye on them and keep your house secure. Most burglers don't bother taking pictures before hitting a place. Don't freak out, just be aware.

[RTGoodman]

We had something similar happen back last summer. We live sort of out in the country (not like Deliverance, but not really in a town either), so we're not used to people showing up unannounced. For a couple of weeks, my mom had been noticing an older red pickup truck pulling over every few afternoons and sitting at the end of our driveway for about 5-10 minutes at a time. My dad (being the military guy he is) works all day pretty far away so he didn't see it (and my mom for the most part went about her business in the house but with mace and/or a handgun close at hand), and we didn't really know what to make of it.

One day, I was coming home from somewhere and the truck was there, so I grabbed some pepper spray from my cousin and pulled in. I rolled down my window and yelled at the guy, and he looked a little confused and rolled his window down. Apparently, since we live at the top of a hill sort of, he lost signal once he got past our house, and he, being a contractor or something like that, had to make sure he didn't lose any important calls. I proceeded to not mace him, but I don't think he ever showed back up in our driveway.


Oh, and some advice I learned from that show on Discovery Channel where they break into peoples' homes to teach them how to secure them - make sure you don't have any ladders or other tools out in the yard, since apparently that's all it takes to get into any house.

[Szilard]

Your talking about "It takes a Theif."

[RTGoodman]

Your talking about "It takes a Theif."

Yeah, that's the one. I was thinking "To Catch a Thief," but I knew that wasn't right. That one would be "To Catch a Predator," which is a completely different show...

[Trog]

Any chance it could be a realtor? They take pics of houses all the time. The owner could be selling it. Check your local real estate mags in a week to see if your place is in it.

[EmeraldRose]

We're the owners. :smallwink:

[Noir-Neko]

Deadbolt Locks are your firends. Make sure to check your window locks and inform any neighbors you have. Look for ways to break into your own house and button then up.

Other then that, keep safe and take care of eachother.

Cheers.

[Midnight Son]

We're the owners. :smallwink:Are you selling it then?:smalltongue:

[Rogue 7]

They said they moved in a week ago. My gut tells me that something would be going down. My advice- if you haven't called the cops, do so and tell them your concerns, and if you don't have any guns, get a nice, solid baseball bat or similar. Keep it close at hand- it'll probably do against anyone with a knife or an unarmed burgaler. Be careful, and good luck.

[†Seer†]

It could be a real estate owner, or it could be a gov't official/zoning person. I know they came to my house in Seattle and started taking pictures of everything and tagging certain things for a future construction project.

If you do feel threatened, I would say follow the other people itp's advice, and also if you have a decent camera, take pictures back :) If anything does happen, you will have something to give the police at least.

Cheers, and best wishes!

[Don Julio Anejo]

It's possible that they could just be photographers who found the scene particularly interesting, for whatever reason they may have. This sounds like the behavior of a couple photographer friends of mine. Some people lose their heads entirely when they stop the car and snap a couple pictures somewhere, even though all they want is a good shot. Maybe there was a flock of birds on your roof or a cool-looking cloud formation, etc.
+1.

It could just be a photographer who was driving by and suddenly saw a cool shot they liked.

[CultDoctor]

Mmhm. I'd go with the photographer thing too, especially council-zoning type stuff. Mainly because I think those casing the joint would be WAY more subtle... you know the type... come up to your door and ask to look at the furniture/artwork/hot water cylinders in your house so they can provide a quote etc...

That said, you should make sure that
* you use & lock deadbolts each night. DON'T take the key out, however, because of fire risk.
* if you have an alarm you use it... if you don't, get one of the fake ones, or better, a real one.
* make sure you don't leave things that could be used for climbing around the house... not just ladders, but anything large and sturdy.
* if you have a gate for cars, keep it closed. This makes getaway so much harder.
* if you're into guns that you don't leave any lying around. (can't read :p) I'm way more in favour of the baseball-bat/mace type things. :]

Also, if you are particularly loaded, you could consider using one of those private security firms that can arrive much faster than the Police. I know they're big here in NZ, but have no idea regarding where you come from.

Anyway, I wish you the best of luck. Burglary is not something you'd wish upon anybody. I highly doubt this is what this is, but these are things that you should do to be 'properly' protected anyway.

[Serpentine]

* make sure you don't leave things that could be used for climbing around the house... not just ladders, but anything large and sturdy.Including random planks of wood :smallsigh:
Freaking bastard climbing through my window stealing my boyfriend's stuff razzafrazza...

[Dallas-Dakota]

The photographer is very likely, I do stuff like that all the time....
Please? Please don´t tell me I´m different? I´m already different enough as it is....:smallfrown:

Anyway, take pictures back.
Its a game I play with some people. Take pictures back of people taking pictures of me. Or run in my case, since I hate to have pictures taken of me... I know weird, since I take them all the time...

[Trog]

We're the owners. :smallwink:
Ah. Well if they return and they don't have a welcome wagon basket launch the RPG at their vehicle. :smallamused:

Er... You did unpack the RPG, right. :smallconfused:

[North]

Yeah thats weird. Id totally be creeped out too. :smallconfused:

[Narmoth]

Well, when I was in England last year, I took photos of 2 houses, 5 cars (including a Rolls Royse and some other expensive car). And I took several photos, not just 2.
That's because I'm from the middle of somewhere, and we don't have fancy stuff here.
They cold jut be tourists.
Anyway: get security company stickers on your windows, so people will think you've got an allarm. And generally make at least the apperance of upgrading the security. If that was theives, they'd think you're prepared, and choose an esier target.

[Skippy]

Hire a sniper. Give him the photos of all your acquaintances and tell him to shoot anyone who doesn't match with that. Maybe two snipers, so they can take turns.

[Dallas-Dakota]

Hire a sniper. Give him the photos of all your acquaintances and tell him to shoot anyone who doesn't match with that. Maybe two snipers, so they can take turns.

Seconded.
Also make a list of photos from persons itp(taken out of the picture thread), take photo of person taking foto, see if any match(just for the case of), then give that list also to the snipers of who NOT to shoot.

[Gungnir]

By the way, I wouldn't get a dog as a security measure. I used to watch It Takes a Thief all the time, and I can't remember one where someone's dog scared him off or even alerted anyone with its barking. The only way a dog would be useful like that is if it's actually a trained guard dog, Which seems a bit extreme for your situation, unless you use money for furniture.

[wojonatior]

Hire a sniper. Give him the photos of all your acquaintances and tell him to shoot anyone who doesn't match with that. Maybe two snipers, so they can take turns.

thirded

or you could just place some C4 under your driveway and blow it up if they or anybody else comes back.:smallbiggrin:

plus an added advantage of the snipers is no more door to door salesmen:smallbiggrin: (though you might have some nasty blood stains in your front yard:smallfrown: )

[Illiterate Scribe]

Hire a sniper. Give him the photos of all your acquaintances and tell him to shoot anyone who doesn't match with that. Maybe two snipers, so they can take turns.

What if the creepy people have already paid him off? I suggest traps.

[Mauve Shirt]

Maybe your house is just really really pretty!
If anyone else takes a picture of your house, charge them $5!

[Greebo]

Could have been taking pics for Google...

[North]

Seconded.
Also make a list of photos from persons itp(taken out of the picture thread), take photo of person taking foto, see if any match(just for the case of), then give that list also to the snipers of who NOT to shoot.

Alas I knew I shouldnt have gone on that makeover show....

[Zeful]

There are three likely possibilities.

One: They are bad burglars casing your house.

Solution: Lock up and set motion detecters in the room hooked up to an alarm and light system. If they're tripped at night it calls the police and floods all the rooms with a very bright light (I recommend something brighter than the sun personally) to go off for 4 seconds before shutting off for 45. This approximates the flash of a flash-bang grenade.

Two: Their photographers just taking pictures of your house.

Solution: You and Andre go out the next time you see the car and waive them down and talk to them. Tell them you're uncomfortable with them talking pictures as they are and ask them to stop. Most likely they will.

Three: It's the FBI.

Solution: See #1

[Pwenet]

Well, I do have a story here that happened a few months ago.

The day after my marriage was destroyed, and when we didn't know what my EX was going to do, everyone in my house was woken up be EXPLOSIONS outside! :smalleek:

Looking out the window my sleep-deprived brain saw flashes outside, where a car was parked. After the explosions died away it sped of.

Now when I'm freshly woken up out of a good REM cycle, my brain is not working, so I didn't make the connection that "Hmm, those headlights look familiar" before passing back out.

The next morning after a shower to wake me up I talked to me Dad who heard the noises. They were concerned a bit, then I made this lovely comment.

"Those headlights looked to be from the Evil-EX-Wife car."

That got him thinking as well, for he did make it to the window in time to kind of see it, but I had a better vantage point.

Ended up calling the cops, and arrangements were made to have a cop at the house if/when the Evil-EX-Wife picked up her junk if we felt it was warrented.

Everything was fine with the junk pickup by her, but it still REALLY freaked us out and we took extra precautions for a long time (sadly for anyone looking to cause trouble we own, raise really really big dogs that will slobber you to death).

[EmeraldRose]

Well, after a very long night (it was stormy and the thunder/lightning didn't help my peace of mind much...) nothing else happened that we know of. Were it me anyway, I would come by during work hours, when the house is likely to be empty (this happened to one of my co-workers, twice- the robbers had to come back to get the remote so the tv would work...).

Andre had a baseball bat handy, and was up late working on his homework anyway.

So, no, we are not loaded, and we did just buy the place on the 11th. We are looking into security systems (which are about $35/month according to my co-worker :smalleek: , but she says worth the peace of mind), or at least stickers indicating we have one. Any dog we would get would start out as a puppy, making it difficult to do anything for at least a year, and we wouldn't train it to be vicious anyway, as it'd be our son's dog. Our house Grendel is useless as a guard cat (unless you are a twisty-tie or plastic) and Chewy no longer chews on people.

My only reason to believe they were not photographers for a government agency, is that they were in a private vehicle, he looked to be about 20ish, and they drove by, didn't stop really. The whole thing lasted only seconds. If I had not happened to be looking out the window when they drove by, I would've missed it completely.

So, while snipers may be kept on the back burner :smallwink: we'll just keep our eyes open, and try to meet the neighbors...

((And Trog, we have not yet unpacked the RPG. I think you and Thes took it back with you last time to send off at IKEA...))

[Pyro]

That is a little weird, but it seems pretty isolated. Since you just moved in it could be a realtor. But keep your doors locked and be extra careful if it worries you, just as the others have mentioned.

[BillsBioBlog]

I'm sure they just thought your house was pretty or something

[rollfrenzy]

I assume, since you weren't "loaded", You probably didn't pay cash and have recently taken a loan out for the house. You may want to call your mortgage company and/or insurance agent. Having worked for a (large) mortgage company, I know that we had pictures of every house we owned the mortgage on. Alot of the insurance complanies wnat photos too, so that if something bad happens you can't claim that the gold cased marble statues of Roland St Jude on the back porch got burned down in the fire.

Ps, Congrats on the new house, hope you have many happy years there.

[thorgrim29]

You know, could just be curious folk.... we live in THE nice neiborhood in town, and we get people passing by slowly in cars gawking and taking pictures all the time, it's very annoying.....

[Skippy]

What if the creepy people have already paid him off? I suggest traps.

That's why you hire more than one. Because that way they will keep an eye on each other. :smallamused:

[Vella_Malachite]

It should be fine. Just take security precautions suggested above (at your discretion, obviously; some of them looked like they'd be quite costly).

I have a story about this; me and my friend were at her house and we went down to the garage. Suddenly, this weird woman walked in and asked us our names. She replied with her name (probably not wise, in hindsight), and the woman asked to see her father. The woman kept taking cigarettes out of a pouch at her hip, but she didn't smoke any of them and she didn't smell like cigarette smoke. She just put them back in. Me and my friend went outside, quickly decided that neither one of us wanted to be left alone with her, and went to fetch her father. He found her in the garage looking at his old hiking diaries; she claimed to be an old girlfriend of one of his male friends that went hiking with them often; unfortunately for her, every time my friend's father went hiking, it was either guys only without any girls at all or alone with my friend's mother.
So she left. None of us managed to get her numberplates, more's the pity. A few months later, she returned. This time they called the police quickly and they caught her. Turns out she'd been in a mental institution before and this wasn't the first time she'd done something like this.:smalleek:

[Paragon Badger]

I had an art teacher who was once under suspicion of being a terrorist when he took one too many photographs of radio towers...

[Ossian]

Well, jokes aside there are always legal consequences, and in this silly world the concept of self defense is a bit blurred, to the point that you might go to jail if you injure someone who was trying to steal all your properties.

So, aside from securing your house, you might just warn the police and describe the situation as carefully as possible. It's good to do also because it will get into a record of some sort. Unless you are damn sure they are just annoying jerks, do not confront them. If they are up to some mischief, chances are they will have already entered paranoia state, some x10 your paranoia, and there is no saying what they could do if you tryed to frame them or scare them off. If you really need to do that ambush, do it from safe distance.

Also, warn the neighbors. They might have had the same experience. If that is so, also tell them to warn the police. They might overlook one call, not 20.

Third option: in broad dailight stroll for your neighborhood and check if you see a car that matches the description. Easy to figure what to do next (or not?).

HIDE like the One Ring everything sharp, bladed or pointy. You don't want anyone to stumble upon it and get ideas. This is valid in general, not only if jerksare playing paparazzi with your house. Forget firearms. Won't do any good. They will just send people to the hospital\graveyard (including sometimes people you DID NOT want to be sent there) and possibly you to jail. Only trained experts should handle them, and let the police take care of justice.

O.

[Death, your friend the Reaper]

Ah. Well if they return and they don't have a welcome wagon basket launch the RPG at their vehicle. :smallamused:

Er... You did unpack the RPG, right. :smallconfused:

I have Baldur's gate II unpacked and ready in case you need any help. *nods*

[Miraqariftsky]

Here's my advice...

Build a fence. A sturdy fence--- made of good wood and strong stone, if possible. If it ain't too much, go for some barbed or cyclone wire atop.

Get some dogs. Not a buncha pansy pooches that lie about the house all day, drooling and snoring... Get relatively young, fertile, virile guard dogs that have the power to tear a man's guts out.

Procure weapons and learn martial arts. Simple household implements like wrenches, hammers, windowpoles, knives and forks can do well... but a true staff, sword or spear will serve ye better. Some crossbows and even a gun might prove useful as well.

Install security cameras.

Involve the neighbourhood.

Trust nobody except yourselves and God.