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Original poster

Someone is trying to get in to our house

263 replies

piscofrisco · 15/12/2023 13:36

....it started in summer. I came in through the door, shut it behind me and put my keys down on the side. Went to go out later and the keys were gone. The car was still there on the drive. Two days later Iwa idly scrolling through Facebook and saw them on our local towns lost and found type forum. They had been found on a bus in an area of town that I have never been to.
We had a lot of people doing work on our house last year after a huge house fire. Any number of them could have copied the key.
We changed the locks and although very freaked out, just kind of carried on as usual.
A few months later dh was away with three of our kids. I was at home with dd1. We distinctly heard someone try they handles on all three our our exterior doors. The dogs were going off it. We were terrified. We called dh who thought we were winding him up. We told the police who said there was nothing we could do bar put a camera up. We duly installed a ring doorbell.
A few months passed with no incident until this past few weeks. Dh and I both laid up with Covid. In the lounge with the blinds shut. Someone aggressively knocked on the window right behind us. When we looked there was no one there and no one showed up on the ring camera (which shows the whole front driveway).
And now today. I'm
Wfh and I could hear someone rattling the side door handle. Dogs going mad. I thought it was dh back early and not taken his key. Went to look-no one there. Dh is at work still.
Ring camera is charging up so not on to check.
I am now pretty nervy when in the house on my own. I'm going to work from Starbucks this afternoon.
We have a sort of granny flat thing in the back garden which I daren't look in.
The police basically said just keep your doors locked.
What else can we do?

OP posts:
SlightlygrumpyBettyswaitress · 16/12/2023 08:24

Well its not going to help but I think that there are people who spend all day wondering around trying doors on houses or cars on the off chance that they find one open.

pickledandpuzzled · 16/12/2023 08:26

Are you abstemious with your lights? I wonder if the house looks unoccupied while you are in, so opportunists try the handles.

Try leaving more lights on. And music playing, which costs peanuts.

ruffler45 · 16/12/2023 08:34

Get a proper walled mounted infrared CCTV recording system that switches to your TV screen when activated. Not keen on these ring door bells. My elderly mum complained about certain noises at night. Turned out it was the milkman delivering very early. It also caught someone stealing milk off the door step.

Itsallchange · 16/12/2023 08:35

Sorry not read the whole thread and can’t see you’ve responded to a similar question in your replies.
could it be the security neighbour?? Maybe he’s noticed you don’t have much security and dh is away a lot so if struggling could be an easy way to put the scare on you in the hope you’ll ask for help? Possibly far fetched but just popped into my head from reading your thread?
really hope you get it sorted not feeling safe in your own home cannot feel good xx

Kickstartplease · 16/12/2023 08:41

Sorry you are going through this.
Have a look at the Eufy camera & doorbell packages - you can sometimes get good deals on Amazon.
They can be hard wired or charged & are pretty good

Rainbowshine · 16/12/2023 08:52

Sorry that you are having to deal with this.

Do you have a particularly valuable or sought after car? Could it be possible that people are looking for keys for that to steal?

Otherwise I would say both of you need to really minimise posting on any social media about where you are, including your husband on LinkedIn. Anything that shows you might not be home or your whereabouts, not just obvious things but also things that give a little clue.

I would also suggest you contact the local police community support team and ask if they have any information about making your house more secure as you have had this experience. From describing it to them they might be able to add up several pieces of information to know what is going on. It’s cheaper than buying a camera system.

Southlondoner88 · 16/12/2023 08:53

OP I am not being rude but how is your mental health in general? What strikes me
as odd about this post is you are
hearing things at your door but when you check cameras or look out the window/ door, nobody is there. How would that keep happening multiple times? If someone wanted to break in they’d get in through a window or something especially as it’s been going on so long. You’d at least see someone running away from the building if this was really happening.

Also, how did someone get into your house to steal a key when your door was shut/ locked behind you as you said?

Have you had paranoid episodes before? Are you more anxious stressed than usual ? Does your husband think the same as you ?

if your mental is fine op then could it not just be wind making noise and your dog barking as dogs do bark at silly things. If someone wanted to enter your house they would have done so by now and i really don’t see how someone stole your keys when you were in the house with a locked door???

dawngreen · 16/12/2023 08:57

My 12 yr old Yorkshire Terrier woke us up to a burglar, and she bit him too. He burgled 60 houses in one weekend. A druggie looking for cash people said. Since then we had double glazing added. Back then we had those terrible single glazed windows.

Autumnalday · 16/12/2023 09:14

Two of the kids are mine from a previous marriage, two are DH's from his previous marriage

You say your DH isn't on good terms with his ex wife. Do you think his ex or your ex are the reason for this? Either it's them or they've asked family/friends to scare you?

GaslitlikeaVictorianparlour · 16/12/2023 09:21

OP, there's a lot of unnecessarily dramatic posts on here, please don't be too frightened.
While its horrible that someone tried, the thing that really stands out in your posts is that they can't get in. You've obviously done the right things to make you safe.

This is stealing season, everyone knows everyone's been Christmas shopping and homes are full.of lovely, expensive portable gifts and there's a market to sell on to. Your keys and address have been sold on, someone is having a go at getting in and yours will be one of many that they're trying. They'll move on to an easier target and in 2 weeks, when Christmas is over it won't be worth their while.

Original poster
piscofrisco · 16/12/2023 09:30

Both cars are old really. Clapped out Audi and basic Ford fiesta! Nothing special at all.

My exh and I have an amicable relationship. Any issues between us were sorted 10 years ago when we split up. I highly doubt it's him. Dh's ex wife and her boyfriend are tricky customers. But they live an hour and a bit away. It would be a lot of driving at random times to rattle out doors and knock on our windows. She isn't known for her motivation in life and I would think that would be far too much effort for her tbh.

My mental health is fine except for being a bit scared to be in my own house just now Grin. If I'm having auditory hallucinations then we all are, as dd1 was with me during the first door handle incidents, dh was with me for the knock on the window and the dogs are also reacting. Dd2 now says she has heard people outside her window (her bedroom
Is downstairs) but she might just be being paranoid now the rest of it has kicked up again this week.

OP posts:
BusyMummyWrites · 16/12/2023 09:30

There have been a spate of burglaries in our road, after 18yrs with no crime whatsoever. Police called a couple of weeks ago and advised that having cameras around the whole house is necessary these days as these people enter from the gardens (after accessing the gardens via a house without cameras, or via the railway line that runs along the far end of the garden). We also had several weeks last year where we were getting aggressive thumping on our door at all hours, very scary when home alone with kids and there have been burglaries nearby - it turned out to be a group of teenagers who stopped once our front Ring cameras/floodlights were installed. Just taken receipt of the floodlight/camera for the rear and already installed one on the side… and put loads of signs up.

DeliciouslyDecadent · 16/12/2023 09:36

If someone got in and took your keys (way back when) they either had taken copies or got into your house some other way.

(Why would anyone be able to take copies? Did you give them your house keys at the time?)

If they used copies of your keys to get in, why would they need to steal more keys?

Did that key set have your car keys on it? (TIP- never have all your keys together.)

Why would they abandon your set of keys on a bus? What was the point in stealing them only to leave them on a bus?

That implies they wanted them to be found. Usually burglars chuck them under a bush or something.

And the person who found them- could he be the thief?

None of it makes sense.

Ass PPs say you need security, motion-detection lights, cameras (not doorbell ones) on your house where no one can reach them, and a burglar alarm.

My instinct is this is someone playing silly buggers. If they really wanted to burgle your house, they would have by now.

Shimmeringshadows · 16/12/2023 09:41

I haven’t read through all the posts but just wanted to comment about the cameras. We have Ring cameras and they are selective about what they pick up. We have outside lighting but despite this they don’t always detect people. Maybe get an alarm box, that might be a deterrent and have leave lights on so it always looks like someone is at home

SpongeBabeSquarePants · 16/12/2023 09:46

If there is a granny flat and you have only lived there a short time, could it be a confused (and elderly) previous owner returning to what they think is their own house?

Either that or teenagers having a 'laugh'.

Fullrecoveryispossible · 16/12/2023 09:48

Are you in debt? Bailiffs can enter any unlocked doors…only thing I can think of!

Pudmyboy · 16/12/2023 10:18

BubbleBubbleBubbleBubblePop · 15/12/2023 14:46

The house fire, how did that happen? Did someone set it alight?

No house fire has been mentioned!

VisionsOfSplendour · 16/12/2023 10:19

Pudmyboy · 16/12/2023 10:18

No house fire has been mentioned!

Show quote history

Have you missed part of the thread?

Reliy · 16/12/2023 10:21

Pudmyboy · 16/12/2023 10:18

No house fire has been mentioned!

Show quote history

I’m the first post
We had a lot of people doing work on our house last year after a huge house fire

Pudmyboy · 16/12/2023 10:23

VisionsOfSplendour · 16/12/2023 10:19

Have you missed part of the thread?

Show quote history

Yes, sorry about this, I will get my post deleted and dig out my reading specs

Pudmyboy · 16/12/2023 10:24

Reliy · 16/12/2023 10:21

I’m the first post
We had a lot of people doing work on our house last year after a huge house fire

Show quote history

Yes sorry I missed it due to not having my specs on, will get my post deleted

GaslitlikeaVictorianparlour · 16/12/2023 10:34

Why would they abandon your set of keys on a bus? What was the point in stealing them only to leave them on a bus

So that you get them back and then won't change the locks.

dawngreen · 16/12/2023 10:35

You say you shut the door behind you when you came in.

1/ The person was already in the house then left with the keys?

2/ Did you shut the door fully or assumed it would shut?

3/ I would hide a nanny cam in the house, and not tell your family members or husband.

I don't get why the keys would get taken, then discarded on a bus. Do any of your family know any one who uses that bus?

Original poster
piscofrisco · 16/12/2023 10:38

We can't explain what happened with the keys. That's why it's a bit unnerving. Along with everything else.
No debt. Except a bit on my very account and i don't think they would resort to these measures!

OP posts:
VisionsOfSplendour · 16/12/2023 10:49

GaslitlikeaVictorianparlour · 16/12/2023 10:34

Why would they abandon your set of keys on a bus? What was the point in stealing them only to leave them on a bus

So that you get them back and then won't change the locks.

And you do this by hoping someone will pick the keys up, make a Facebook post and that the OP will happen upon it?

Were in the realms of fantasy now

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