Home burglary in 140 characters or less

As social media sites continue to gain popularity, a downside to constantly posting status updates is becoming apparent. Experts say Twitter updates and Facebook check-ins are making it easy for criminals to research potential burglary victims.

Instead of casing a house and determining a person's patterns, it is now as easy as going online and seeing that someone is at a Christmas party or on vacation for the next week.

"Social media is definitely a factor in many of today's burglaries," said Joanna Moore, a claims officer with Mercury Insurance, in an email. "Instead of watching for mail to accumulate outside your residence, burglars can case your home by simply scanning your Twitter feed and monitoring your Facebook status for any signs you're away. And it's only getting easier with new features like Facebook Places, which allows users to divulge their exact location by simply checking in."

According to FBI statistics, there were more than 229,000 burglaries in Texas in 2010, an average of one every two-and-a-half minutes. The month with the most burglaries is July, a time when many people are gone on family vacations. December also had one of the highest rates, with about 20,000 burglaries occurring in 2010.

With many burglaries committed by people known to the victim, even keeping tweets and status updates private may not be good enough.

"You risk tipping off burglars to your home's vulnerability by tweeting, updating, posting or checking in during your holiday travels," Moore said. "There's nothing more convenient for robbers than when their victims are away for an extended period of time. And you never know whose hands into which your information is falling."

Officer David Tilley of the Plano Police Department said the department typically sees an increase in burglaries during the holiday season.

"The burglars know people travel around Christmas, and that opens up an opportunity," he said. "A lot of electronics are also purchased as Christmas presents and the bad guys know that, so breaking into houses around Christmas gives them a better opportunity to steal high-dollar electronics."

Tilley said ensuring a house looks lived in goes a long way toward preventing burglaries. He suggested hooking up lights, televisions and radios to timers so they come on and off during the day, even when a person is not home. A house with activity going on inside will be a less attractive target than one that has been dark for several days, Tilley said.

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