To think I might have been burgled?

[Kittensat36]

Having a bizarre and upsetting 48 hours. Just need to vent really.

Got up yesterday morning and was preparing to leave for work when I realised that my handbag was not in the hall. It normally sits on an ottoman I have, which is about 10 feet in. I know it was there because I remember taking my phone out of it the other night to send a text

Had to have an emergency day off , expecting to find it any minute - my flat is very untidy, but I expected to find it at some point. I even checked the washing machine in case I had taken it into the bathroom and scooped it up with the washing I was about to do.

But how on earth did it happen if I was burgled? The front door was shut, the back door was locked and the only open window opens onto a secure garden (and you would have cross my bed to get in).

I have to say that my bag is not the only thing that has disappeared over the last couple of weeks. My pill container for my meds disappeared from my living room, I thought that the cats might have bapped it somewhere, but they aren't talking. A batch of paperwork is also on the missing list- a receipt for a large purchase I made recently and a prescription for flea meds. All highly useful (not), but a bit odd as laptops were in the same room and were left untouched.

A ring doorbell/cameras would have been useful and I will have to get some. But I have nothing now. I suppose that if they put something through the letter box, they might have been able to get the door open, but isn't that a bit risky in the middle of the night? Wouldn't it have been easier to get in while I am at work?

Thank goodness for my marvellous upstairs neighbour lending me some cash, or I would be really stuck.

Got to go to work to sort out getting a new workphone and getting my locker broken into to retrieve my work kit. Then sorting a new barrel for my front door lock...

Thanks for reading my rant.

I'm glad you got answers and I'm sorry this happened to you. This happened to my neighbours- someone with a copy of the key let themselves in and took stuff.

Hey op just to advise you when you go to buy the new cylinder, look for a lock with a 3* (3 star) rating. That will give you better protection against bumping and snapping. Might be slightly more expensive but not too much and worth it imo.

The thief took my bag with my purse, so I had no money to get me through the weekend and beyond, till replacement cards arrived. The money I borrowed was soon eaten up with replacing oyster cards, etc. Had the bank not been helpful (and sympathetic), I wouldn't be able to do stuff like change the lock.

I think it's much more likely you dropped the bag. It's highly unlikely someone is going to risk going into your house on several occasions and the only time they take something useful, they discard the lot, including bank cards.

Oh my god this is horrible! Tell us more!!

@MissEsmeWatson sorry I missed the update. So glad they caught the guy because that's a nightmare.

Surely it's VANISHINGLY unlikely to be the OPs problem.

What are anti-statins? Glad you're getting things sorted OP.

If you have an old phone you can use that as a security camera (inside) by using the Alfred app. Might be useful for peace of mind while you don't have a Ring doorbell.

Get a few hidden indoor cameras but don’t tell ANYONE - you don’t want to warn people they are there. Also as you suggested get two ring door bell cameras. Does anyone else have a key? Do you have an ex who maybe trying to make you think you’re going mad - sounds daft but it does happen.

I’m so glad you got your handbag back, OP. It’s scary to think someone has been in your house at least twice.

as a fellow untidy person, I have a Tile AND an AirTag in my handbag, on my house keys and on my car keys. The Tiles are good for finding things lost in the house.

If you cancel your card and you use Apple Pay then the replacement card is active on Apple Pay instantly. I believe the same is true of Android devices too.

(uPVC doors) The best way to defeat a burglar with a key is to leave your key on the inside in the lock and turned slightly so a key from the outside can't go all the way in. This is also a good fire safety measure.

However it does mean that if anyone gains access by another route (climbs in the window) then they can just walk out the front door. Although in most cases the key can only be left in the lock inside if you are in.

Thumbturns won't protect you from a key-holding burglar. Also make sure the lock is truly "bump proof" (see link in PP).

Glad mystery is solved. Nothing worse than a feeling you are going mad.

See I was told don’t leave the key in the door as it kind of half unlocks it and makes it easier to pick from the outside.

Is it possible you left your bag on the doorstep and closed the door with it left outside?

Or left your keys in the door outside, enabling someone to easily open it and grab the first thing (your bag) they saw?

Is this for real? Why would someone steal your cats flea prescription?!

Did you change the locks when you moved in? Maybe a previous resident still has a key.

I didn't, @PracticalLady , more fool me. Going to be a staunch advocate of it now. And will also change the back door lock after payday.

So it's done with a 3* Platinum lock. Couldn't get one with a thumb plate.

No, I couldn't have left it outside/had it slip off my shoulder - I always wear my strap diagonally across my body, so I have to deliberately take it off, can't shrug it off. Besides which, I went back to the bag to get my phone after I had got in, fed the cats, started supper, etc, so I know it was there. If it had been my shopping bag, it would be entirely possible

Why would anyone take my cat's prescription? Well. I admit that it's odd and I only conjecture that it may be part of the silliness going on. I agree that a burglar stealing to make ends meet would probably not be interested in paperwork unless they are looking for bank statements etc for identity theft. Grab a handful of letters, etc, see what's there. After all we are told not to bung stuff with personal info in the bin for this reason.

If it's someone who has a key and is pranking me, well, just randomly taking a handful of paperwork might cause irritation...... which it most certainly did.

Well anyway, that's me done for this thread.

Nothing odd about that! We were burgled years ago - carelessly left small downstairs top window open on warm night - and the theft of my handbag was the worst: telling bank and police, cancelling cards and mobile, cutting new door keys, replacing car keys, insurance claims, the lot. Ever since, my bag sits inconspicuously down by my bed at night.

Which means if a burglar enters your house, instead of finding your handbag easily and leaving, they may come upstairs into yours/your children’s sleeping quarters to find something valuable instead.
Everything I keep in my handbag is replaceable. My family’s safety is more important than my bank cards and keys. I’d rather burglars found what they wanted and left.

Oh, I wouldn't. Why make it easy for them? If they are casual thieves they won't come up and search the occupied bedrooms, and in the unlikely event that they did, I'd hand anything they demanded over.
More importantly, and on police advice, our windows and doors are all safely locked at night - we check this religiously last thing. Valuables are in an inconspicuous safe - only close family know we have one. Car keys are always kept in Faraday pouches out of sight, never left visibly on hall table. There are plenty of precautions you can take.

I leave an old bag in the hall, with an old purse, some spare change, keys and a fiver in it.

It's probably not a wonder there's so many opportunistic burglars now, with everybody being advised to leave all their valuables on a plate by the front door for them 🙈

I was once burgled (in London) exactly like this. There was one small window open which they came in and out which backed into only a shared but private garden. They grabbed only my handbag and left. The scariest thing was that I was napping in the bedroom with my newborn baby, didn’t wake up or hear a thing and it was broad daylight.

By definition criminals are thick as pigshit. Most are barely literate.

As Mr. McKay said in "Porridge" : "You know their motto. Thieve first, think later".

If only that were true then the large phone scam factories wouldn't exist and vulnerable people wouldn't lose their life savings to unscrupulous gangs. The definition of criminal definitely doesnt automatically include stupid

Whatever works for you. This was the advice I got from the Police though and it makes sense to me so I’ll stick with it. All my stuff is insured and it’s just stuff, if they want it that badly they can have it. Them coming upstairs where my children are sleeping is a small risk, but not one I’m willing to take.