Burglars looking to cash in on Black Friday

Burglars are looking to hit the jackpot as Black Friday bargains and Christmas presents boost the value of home contents by more than a third this weekend, home security experts have warned.

Millions of pounds will be spent buying Christmas presents this weekend as most of the UK gets its monthly pay-cheque today and scoops up Black Friday bargains in readiness for Christmas.

And those bargains, plus Christmas present purchases, means UK homes are an easily accessible treasure trove for heartless thieves over the next few weeks, according to the report by National home security company esafes.

Esafes has issued a red alert for home-owners to be extra vigilant between today and throughout Christmas and has produced a Five Ways to Make a Burglar’s Life Difficult infographic to give householders the advantage over opportunistic thieves.

According to esafes’ advice, 60% of attempted burglaries of homes with alarms fitted are unsuccessful.

The company has also advised that householders avoid leaking sensitive personal details on Facebook and Twitter, like announcing when they are going on holiday.

“Our research shows that 78% of burglars admit to using social media when looking for homes to target. They see who is on holiday and who has just bought a new TV,” said esafes spokesman Stephen Wylde.

Burglars rarely check kitchens and nurseries during the average 12 minutes they are inside a victim’s home, so those rooms can be secret weapons used to store valuables.

But they do check under doormats and plantpots for spare keys to gain easy access to homes, so avoiding putting keys in these places to prevent them getting an easy ride.

Stephen Wylde added: “Most residential burglaries occur between the hours of 10am - 3pm when people are at work or school.

“July and August register the most burglaries with February having the least. And it takes a burglar an average of just 12 minutes to rob a house.

“They tend to look for small easy to carry objects like cash, smartphones, tablet computers and jewellery.”

The most common entry point for burglars is your front door – 34% of burglars get access to your home that way. The second most common access point is through a first floor window (23%) and then the back door (22%). Nine per cent of burglars break in through a garage, six per cent through a storage area in the attic, four per cent through the basement and two per cent through a second floor window.

“Home safes are inexpensive and cannot be broken into in just a few minutes. Often burglars won’t even try,” Stephen Wylde added.

“So a simple, affordable safe can often be a genuine anti-burglary solution for most homes. We’d advise all householders to lock up and be e-safe this Christmas.”

For more home security tips visit www.esafes.co.uk.