Holiday Home Security

In my line of work it is always shocking to find the lengths people will go through to get their hands on your property. Whilst in Cyprus recently I learned of a way organised criminals were robbing holiday homes. The scam goes like this; Your holiday apartment that you rent out has a web site showing all the great stuff it has inside like fridge, cooker, maybe even a TV and sky. The criminals trawl through these sites and ring you up to place a booking, asking when the apartment is free. Once you have told them the apartment is available on particular dates, they then roll up break in (almost all the locks I saw were the weak Euro cylinders – see my earlier posts for more info) and take your stuff to be sold at the other end of the island. So please beware of people asking you for available dates. You should be asking them when they would like to travel. If they are flexible, then be cautious in giving out too much information. An exact address should only be given upon confirmed booking with full or at least part payment. This might make you come across as a bit awkward but if you explain to people why, then I am sure they will understand. In the complex where I stayed there were several other holiday properties. Conviniently, there were keysafes next to the postal boxes for each one. Three or four were hanging open as the properties were occupied and out of curiosity I did an experiment and found all to be set on their open codes, I assume so that the occupants wouldn’t have to bother remembering the code when they put the keys back! It wouldn’t take the greatest criminal mind to note these codes for later use. So it is also important to have your cleaners/ apartment managers/friends or whoever looks after your property for you, to change these codes reguarly. Finally the next time you visit your holiday home, find out what sort of locks you have. If they are Euro cylinders, take them out and measure them. We can send you the correct size Diamond Standard replacement for your return visit. For any more advice please contact through our e-mail or phone number. No question is too big or too small and if we don’t have the answer there and then, we will get back to you.