"Surfing" is the name given to the crime when someone looks over someone else's shoulder and reads their personal information...might be their pin number, might be their address or account number etc.
Probably the most daring I heard about was the guy - and his family - caught by an alert airport cop in California. He was hanging round the airport with his wife and kids and pretending to film them with his video cam. His cam however had a zoom lens and he'd film people's credit card info when they were holding them up to make calls on the phones that required to pay by card and punch your info in.
He only got busted when the cop, who really needs a pat on the back for being on the ball, saw him two days in a row and thought it odd. He surreptitiously watched for a while, figured out what was going on, and took the guy, and his wife and kids, down.
Another old favourite version of this was (and still is) to go to the airport and stand in line behind someone dim enough to have their name and address label on their luggage. The enterprising crook would make a note of the info and then go hit your house knowing full well you wouldn't discover the crime until you got back from your trip.
What can you do? Awareness is the first step in defense. Now you know to keep your personal info, pin #s and credit cards etc personal i.e. don't wave them all over the place and be careful of who is standing right behind you, and what they're doing.
If you're going to travel, it's true the airlines will make you use a luggage name tag...but no one can force you to put it on the outside of your bag. As long as it is on or in the bag somewhere that's fine. If you have the money, swanky luggage has the leather tag with a flap over the pertinent info so it will only be visible if someone physically peels the tag back and looks. Great to have, and worth the money.
Beware the surfers.
Nick
Showing posts with label cop. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cop. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
Friday, January 26, 2007
RUN Forrest, RUNNNNN
One of my pet peeves is the advice I see on a thousand web sites regarding fighting someone with a knife...and that is "just run away" or the ever-cute "use Nike-fu, and run like the wind."
Well, let's start with the obvious...how do you know you're faster than the kid with the knife? There's no way of looking at people and determining who's fleetest of foot until you've run a race. Also consider the kid doing the knifing is probably a skinny drug addict and he's chosen an overweight, Rolex wearing businessman as his victim. Sorry, but I don't want to discover he's quicker by getting a knife between the shoulder blades as I huff and puff down the street.
Where exactly are you running to? In a panic you might just be jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire. Are you running away from the well-lit public arena into a blind alley? Are you - as happened once that I know of - about to jump over what you think is a fence to discover an eighty foot drop on to railroad tracks on the other side?
Who's with you? Got a wife/girlfriend wearing six inch heels in a parking lot? "Run honey" or in other words "Every man for himself" said the elephant as he danced among the chickens. How about a couple of kids and a few bags of shopping?
Why are they doing this? Are you a security guard, cop, bouncer, soldier, body guard or a cop by chance? Guess what? They don't hire you to run. They can do that already...they want you because you're the guy that gets paid to go into harms way.
Last...running often activates the prey drive in predatory types. Just as the advice concerning dogs and wild animals is never to run for fear you'll encourage them to chase you, so it should be with predatory human beings.
Does that mean I'm advocating standing and fighting? Not at all. Fighting someone armed with a knife is a truly horrific experience and, without years of very pertinent training, your chances of winning it are slim but, I just don't want you all to walk around with your head you know where saying "someone pulls a knife on me, I'll just run." You'd better have a plan B for the exceptions that I mentioned above.
Nick
PS: Oh, and if you think carrying a gun is the answer you're dead wrong...emphasis on the word "dead." More on that tomorrow
Well, let's start with the obvious...how do you know you're faster than the kid with the knife? There's no way of looking at people and determining who's fleetest of foot until you've run a race. Also consider the kid doing the knifing is probably a skinny drug addict and he's chosen an overweight, Rolex wearing businessman as his victim. Sorry, but I don't want to discover he's quicker by getting a knife between the shoulder blades as I huff and puff down the street.
Where exactly are you running to? In a panic you might just be jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire. Are you running away from the well-lit public arena into a blind alley? Are you - as happened once that I know of - about to jump over what you think is a fence to discover an eighty foot drop on to railroad tracks on the other side?
Who's with you? Got a wife/girlfriend wearing six inch heels in a parking lot? "Run honey" or in other words "Every man for himself" said the elephant as he danced among the chickens. How about a couple of kids and a few bags of shopping?
Why are they doing this? Are you a security guard, cop, bouncer, soldier, body guard or a cop by chance? Guess what? They don't hire you to run. They can do that already...they want you because you're the guy that gets paid to go into harms way.
Last...running often activates the prey drive in predatory types. Just as the advice concerning dogs and wild animals is never to run for fear you'll encourage them to chase you, so it should be with predatory human beings.
Does that mean I'm advocating standing and fighting? Not at all. Fighting someone armed with a knife is a truly horrific experience and, without years of very pertinent training, your chances of winning it are slim but, I just don't want you all to walk around with your head you know where saying "someone pulls a knife on me, I'll just run." You'd better have a plan B for the exceptions that I mentioned above.
Nick
PS: Oh, and if you think carrying a gun is the answer you're dead wrong...emphasis on the word "dead." More on that tomorrow
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Welcome to my first blog. Why another one? Aren't there enough already? Well sure, self defense is a broad subject but it's also a very local one.
Remember last year when the FBI published their crime stats and all the papers were reporting an increase in violent crime? Readers in small towns are seeing that and thinking of investing in alarms etc but in reality it may be nothing more than two rival drug gangs at war in Washington DC. That will definitely cause the numbers to spike but how does that effect the guy in the mountains? Not one bit.
So it is with Charlotte. Crimes are local and trends are local. There may be a spate of car jackings in San Clemente CA whereas here we might be seeing an increase in home invasions. Now, someone in Charlotte has a way of keeping abreast with what is going on and, unlike in the media which will relish in reporting it, picking up some measures to beat it.
Stay tuned. Not only will I cover the local stuff but I'll also talk about self protection and martial arts as well...subjects I've been passionate about for over thirty years.
If you're a cop, a security professional, a body guard, bouncer or concerned citizen you'll get a heap of relevant info so sit back and enjoy the ride.
Remember last year when the FBI published their crime stats and all the papers were reporting an increase in violent crime? Readers in small towns are seeing that and thinking of investing in alarms etc but in reality it may be nothing more than two rival drug gangs at war in Washington DC. That will definitely cause the numbers to spike but how does that effect the guy in the mountains? Not one bit.
So it is with Charlotte. Crimes are local and trends are local. There may be a spate of car jackings in San Clemente CA whereas here we might be seeing an increase in home invasions. Now, someone in Charlotte has a way of keeping abreast with what is going on and, unlike in the media which will relish in reporting it, picking up some measures to beat it.
Stay tuned. Not only will I cover the local stuff but I'll also talk about self protection and martial arts as well...subjects I've been passionate about for over thirty years.
If you're a cop, a security professional, a body guard, bouncer or concerned citizen you'll get a heap of relevant info so sit back and enjoy the ride.
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