Back from vacation

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Bappy32
Posts: 597
Joined: Thu Jan 02, 2025 6:52 am

Back from vacation

Post by Bappy32 »

But back to my first thought: Suppose I were a burglar, how would I handle it?

Anonymous accounts with keywords
I would first create a number of anonymous accounts on the regular social media channels. Then I would set up a number of standard searches via Twitter in my dashboard based on a number of keywords. I would start with 'Schiphol', 'airport', 'on holiday', sometimes in combination with the term Foursquare or 4SQ. The messages with the text 'from my hotel room', 'Spanish sun', 'beautiful surroundings' and 'been on an excursion' get a separate tab, so I know for sure that they are already on holiday.

Google
Next, I would set up Google Alerts for a number of well-known forums such as Fok.nl or Viva.nl with the same series of keywords, so that I receive an e-mail when a message with these keywords is posted on the internet. Oh yes, and don't forget Hyves. Young children are simply easier to trumpet where and when they are going on holiday. And with the Google operator 'site:' such an alert is a piece of cake. Then I would surf to waarbenjij.nu for the section 'recent travel reports', where people tell where they are NOW (instead of at home in the Netherlands). I smell opportunities.

Don't forget to follow @Dreizen , @Arkefly and associates on Twitter so that I can be kept informed via their webcare of where the Twitterers are flying to or at which airport they are stuck. I also search for data from people who, prior to a long holiday, park via park2go , Schiphol Parkfly and vakantieparking.nl and share that with us via social media.

Name and address details
Then I would collect these messages and see which names and possible address details can be found here. And fortunately that turns out not to be so super difficult. Not everyone is careful with their address details. And if you were, there are sports clubs and music clubs that sometimes put member lists online including address details. Or I would see if the people I selected on social media use the automated (smartphone) location determination, as can be seen when posting a message on Twitter or Facebook. And then I haven't even mentioned the public Facebook or Foursquare check-ins called 'home' or 'at home'.

If that doesn't work, a search in Google with first and last name, combined with ' switzerland mobile phone number list curriculum vitae' sometimes yields a surprising result. And if that doesn't work, scanning the names through 123people.nl or wieowie.nl can fortunately generate some data. Great!

If I were to find out someone's address, I would use Google Street View to explore the house in advance, including dark corners and escape routes. Check. Nothing is more peaceful than breaking into a house knowing that the residents are thousands of miles away. Yep, I would be a real burglar 2.0.

But seriously. Of course there is no way I would do this kind of thing. I have a clear conscience, empathy and a moral objection to anything that even smacks of theft. From close stories I know that it can be quite traumatizing. Rest assured, the characters Tijmen and Marieke are fictional. And of course this blog is about the stupid people who thoughtlessly throw all sorts of things on the internet. Not realizing that there are bad people who are busy with what is described above on a daily basis.

You can ignore it and imagine 'that it won't happen to you'. But then you shouldn't be surprised that your home has been broken into after posting Twitter diarrhea on the internet all holiday long. So be a little careful with your messages full of holiday 'awesomeness'. We no longer live in the time of 'when happiness was very normal', so keep that in mind. If only because you don't want your entire family holiday photo album on GeenStijl .
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