Are Burglars Casing Houses In Their Underwear?

from the crime-enters-the-net-age dept

Virtual tours of homes for sale allow home shoppers to effortlessly tour houses for sale from the comfort of their own homes. However, it's not possible to know what the viewers are actually after. Is a virtual tour a good way for burglars to case a house? Burglars can check out locks, locations of valuable goods and entryways for targeted houses with anonymity and zero fear of being caught. This concern sounds a bit inflated, however. Though realtors report that sellers are wary of the sophisticated technology and opt to post photographs instead of the more detailed virtual tour, this is hardly indicative of a fear of burglary. Traditional open houses seem to be a far better way for burglars to check out places, and most likely a more common choice for today's burglars. The supporting evidence discussed in the article is purely anecdotal -- it would be telling to compare burglary rates for all homes versus homes with the virtual tour and with open houses in a given neighborhood. That said, until virtual tours somehow enable virtual burglaries to happen, there doesn't seem to be a good reason to be concerned.

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