It is hard to know who you can trust in this society of tricks and mimicry. There are stories that fill the news reports and internet websites about criminals disguised as repair technicians or officials. You may not always be able to tell the genuine from the criminal but there are ways that you can keep yourself protected no matter who might be knocking at your door.

1. Don’t open or unlock your door to strangers - no matter what uniform they might be wearing. The first thing you should do is ask them to hold some official identification up to your viewer. Follow up the identification with a phone call to the home office (gas company, police precinct or other location) to confirm that the person has been sent by the company. Odds are if the stranger at your door is a criminal then he or she will leave before you can finish checking out the story.
2. Learn the routes and names of your regular service technicians. It will help to know when the gas, electric and water companies read the meters and who is normally the person for the job. You should watch the garbage delivery and see who the people are that pick up your garbage. Even learning the normal route time of your postal delivery is a good idea. The more you know about the people who come around your home then the more alert you will be when something is out of place.
3. Be aware of people or things that stick out as unusual. A strange car that has been sitting on the street for the whole day could be a sign of someone staking out the neighborhood. A delivery man that wanders around the neighborhood looking for the “right” address is probably not lost but more likely searching for the right target for the “delivery.” It is okay to contact your local police station to express concerns about these things. Use the direct number and not the emergency number. Most criminals avoid the neighborhoods where people are watching out for them.
4. Stay present and aware of repair technicians working in or around your home. If you must go outside with one then lock the door behind you to keep any accomplices from having easy access. Inside your home you will want to keep the repair technicians in sight.

Criminals are using creative disguises to get in to your home. It may be virtually impossible to tell the real repair technicians from the criminals. Don’t take a chance with your safety or with the safety of your home. Be prepared to uncover whether the person at your door is a welcomed visitor or a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

With the warm weather upon us, and summer only a month away, families with pools are likely dusting off the residual winter debris and preparing for endless outdoor pleasure. While cleanliness is a necessary step to happy summer swimming, an equally if not more important consideration is to review a few pool safety tips. This measure is vital to ensuring protection and delight for loved ones and friends alike.

In-ground swimming pools are fun! Years ago, only the well-to-do reveled in such luxury. Illustrations of ancient Roman rulers leisurely snacking on succulent grapes while basking in liquid bliss swirl in magazines images. Today, however, one need be neither a ruler nor wealthy to partake in this form of outdoor recreation. Yet, every pool owner should properly prepare for the season.

A significant factor in pool safety is a pool barrier: if you do not have one, get one; if you have one, make sure it is functioning properly. Small children can slip under, over, or through, some types of barriers, so it is important to make certain a correct barrier is installed. The list below outlines a few barrier choices.

Solid Barrier: This type of barrier has no openings except at the masonry joints. A brick fence is an example of a solid barrier.

Barrier Fence: A Barrier Fence resembles a white picket fence. The horizontal boards should not exceed 1 ¾ inches. If there are ornamental cut-outs, they should not exceed 1 ¾ inches, either.

Chain Link Fence: A Chain Link Fence appears to be metal cross-work. The opening slats should not be more than 1 ¼” opening.

Latticework Fence: This type of fence looks like crossed wood and should not exceed 1 ¾ inches in the openings.

NOTE: The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has specific information on barrier guidelines; this report is available online.

Other pool safety considerations could actually be inside the home. If your house has a sliding door that leads to the pool, it is actually part of the barrier. The door should be equipped with a loud-sounding alarm. If the door opens unexpectedly, adults in the home will be alerted. Alarms can ward off disaster!

Once enjoying your pool, common sense should rule. It is extremely important that at least one adult remain watchful while young children are in or near the water. Guardians could become distracted while chatting on the phone or reveling in the sun, but distractions might result in tragedy. To prevent this from happening, remain alert.

Summer is a time of fun, relaxation, and enjoyment! Adhering to simple rules will reap big rewards in your summer pleasure.

Part I – Prevention

Like many people these days, my life is stored on my computer. From photos to saved emails, my laptop holds everything from both my professional and personal lives. After an unfortunate spillage of water onto the keyword, I was crushed to have lost all my e-belongings. When debating how to get rid of the useless machine, I met someone in a store who said he would gladly take the laptop “off my hands.” I figured this was a lucky encounter, but immediately I was warned by many friends not to hand over the laptop. Even though I had managed to extract some important information before the computer completely stopped working, I was told that someone could still access any account information from online banking, registration, or shopping activity.

It’s no surprise that the Federal Trade Commission is concerned about the millions of Americans who are devastated by identity theft every year. With private information now stored on vast, social networks like the Internet, the line between convenience and personal protection is often blurry. It’s not just computers, however, but even simpler devices like your mailbox that can fall prey to impostors.

Are You Putting Yourself at Risk?

Individuals can steal records from not only your home but from businesses where you are a customer or patient.

Most are not afraid to get their hands dirty, either - dumpsters are often a goldmine for bank statements, insurance information, and other personal documents.

Even in the checkout line, someone might be peering over your shoulder memorizing your credit card number. This makes it possible to access account info like social security numbers. Even if they forget a few letters and misspell your name later, a correct social security number will be their ticket to big purchases and can even cause a warrant for your arrest if they get into trouble with the law.

Future consequences include bankruptcy declarations in your name, which can result in being denied jobs, student loans, and housing.

Fortunately, there are things you can do to help prevent the financial and emotional crises of identity theft:

1. Keep track of your bank accounts and be alert to any surprise purchases or withdrawals.
2. Change your passwords and collect your mail regularly. If you stop receiving mail, call your post office to make sure someone hasn’t signed to have your mail forwarded. If it looks like mail fraud, you should call the U.S. Postal Service Crime Hot Line.
3. Try not to write down your PIN or social security numbers, but if you must, do not carry it on you and consider writing it backwards or in a different order.
4. Tear or shred receipts, applications, and other documents with vital info before throwing them away.
5. No matter how persuasive, do not give your credit card number or personal info to an unsolicited caller.
6. If someone in your family dies, protect any accounts by shredding personal documents and items like unused checks – even deceased individuals can fall victim to identity theft.
7. Report stolen or lost credit cards immediately.

As for myself, I plan to use a professional for safely disposing my laptop, even if it is waterlogged. It’s simply not worth taking the risk that someone might ruin the financial and personal reputation I’ve worked hard for.

Today’s kids spend a lot of time “home alone.” If you’re a working parent, make sure your children know how to handle any situation that may arise during the day, either in the home or on their way to and from school. Cell phones can help you keep track of where your kids are and what they are doing, but they are not a substitute for teaching them the basics of personal safety and home security.

Regardless of their ages or how “grown up” they seem, it’s important that your children are comfortable being home alone. Children who are fearful may panic in a real or imagined emergency situation. Discuss their fears and answer their questions, then determine whether they are able and ready to take on the responsibilities of being alone.

You can help reduce your stress level by teaching your kids the basics of home safety and security. You’ll feel less fearful and your children will develop practical skills and self-reliance. Here are some helpful tips to get you started. Use at your own digression.

• Teach your children how to use the home security system so they are comfortable using it when they are in the house as well as when entering and leaving
• Give them a key to keep with them, not “hidden” somewhere outside the house
• Establish home safety rules including having friends over, homework, household chores and computer and TV use
• Instruct kids in the proper use of telephones and appliances, such as the microwave for their after-school snacks
• Be sure they know how to give directions to the house in the event of an emergency and keep important phone numbers handy by each phone
• Be sure they know how to escape the house in case of a fire (you do have an escape plan, don’t you?)
• Be sure they know how to secure all doors and windows
• Tell them to never let anyone into the home without explicit approval from you
• Tell them to never let a caller or someone at the door know they are alone
• Tell them to never accept rides to or from home from anyone they don’t know very well and who has been pre-approved by you
• Tell them to never go into the house if something looks wrong such as an open door, broken window or strange car in the driveway
• Make sure they know a neighbor who is ready to provide a safe haven

Finally, if you keep weapons in the house, secure them out of reach, use trigger locks, and always keep ammunition in a separate locked location. Home security starts with you

2-way voice communication is the most recent state of the art technology that is designed to give the end-user hands-free ability to communicate with the alarm monitoring center from up to 75 feet away. Alarm monitoring has been around for a long time and quite frankly having the most basic type of alarm monitoring is far better than having no monitoring at all. On a typical digitally monitored security system when there is an alarm event, there is a signal that is sent to one of ADT’s 5 monitoring centers via a phone line. ADT would respond by calling the premises to verify if it is in fact an emergency or a false alarm. As you could imagine, if an intruder entered your home and the alarm system sounded there is a very good chance when the phone rings you are not going to answer it. Although it is not a tremendous amount of time, it is response lost.

With the 2-way voice technology when an alarm sounds or a panic button is activated, ADT will instantly communicate with you or your family via the hands-free 2-way voice keypads and personal alarm device. Having the ability to communicate hands-free can mean the difference between life and death in the event of a medical emergency or a violent home invasion. Having the ability to have ADT to listen to the event also eliminates false alarms and increases the response time from the emergency authorities.