Shaken After Car Incident – Advice Needed

[TheRealGossipGirl]

This evening, I was giving my mum a pedicure and popped into my room to put my kit away. My bedroom overlooks a small residential car park, and I happened to notice that my car boot was open - and I saw someone trying to close it, along with two other lads. They were slamming it shut.

By the time I got to the window and opened it to say something, they were gone (they didn’t see me).

I went outside to check my car, and they’d clearly had a good rummage through it. Thankfully, nothing was taken – to be honest, my car’s a bit of a tip, there’s nothing worth stealing - but I’m absolutely shaken.

I’ve lived here for over 10 years and have never had anything like this happen before. I can only assume I forgot to lock it. I’ve now double-checked - the doors and boot are all locked now.

What should I do now? Is it just a case of getting over it and making sure I lock it properly in future? I’m worried they’ll come back and try again.

I don't think they'll be back as nothing worth having first time,these little sods are on the lookout all the time for opportunities that are going to bear fruit.
Try not let it get to you, get in to a routine when locking your car so you know it's done.

I agree with previous poster.
Take from this incident a feeling of control by getting into the routine of checking all doors, windows are closed, leave nothing in car that looks interesting to those who look inside.
I've seen young girls walking casually beside a vehicle, one will lift their hand casually and try the door. Sometimes such actions reap the reward of finding a door that is unlocked.

Sounds opportunist. They were probably just checking door handles as they walked along and bingo yours was open. They know there is nothing in there worth having now so unlikely to be back and even more unlikely to actually break in if it's locked next time. Also if yours is the kind of car where they wing mirrors fold in when locked it is very obvious if the car is unlocked and makes it basically a flashing beacon to opportunists

If you want to you could ring 101 or your force probably has an online form you can fill in but in reality it won't really do much but might make you feel better.

Can your boot be opened remotely from the keyfob? - If so, is it possible that something has accidentally pressed the button while your keys were in your bag or pocket, or if they were laying on a table, something else fallen / casually dumped & landed on them enough to work the button?

I've had it happen a couple of times when my keys were in my jeans pocket.

Or does your car have "Keyless Entry" - in which case, put your key into a faraday pouch or metal tin when not in use so the signal cannot reach outside to unlock the car when you're not intending to.