JEDDAH: A few days ago a strange incident happened to me; as I approached my truck from the passenger side to place my computer bag in the front passenger seat, I noticed there was a hole right under my door handle. My first, immediate thought was that someone had shot my truck!
However, as I inspected the hole a little closer, it slowly dawned on me that this was no gunshot. I phoned my friend, who owns a car repairing and servicing workshop and asked if he had any vehicles with damaged doors that looked like a bullet hole.
“Yes, I see it quite often. Thieves have a punch and place it right under the door handle, knock a hole through, reach in and unlock it, just as if they have a key. No alarms, broken glass, or anything.”
As soon as I finished talking to my friend, I placed a call to the insurance agent and provided him with details of what had happened to my car.
I was puzzled that the perpetrators had left my GPS and all other valuable belongings untouched. The insurance agent explained to me that they wanted the break-in to be so subtle that the victim would not even realize it.
Instead, the burglars look at the GPS to see where the car owner’s house is, or they check the address from the insurance and registration papers in the car’s glove box. Now that they know the home address, they can plan a bigger and more profitable break-in.
These subtle and dangerous burglars will even leave your wallet and take one or two credit cards. By the time you realize you have been robbed, they would have already used the credit cars and a few days would have already passed. (I didn’t realize my situation for two full days!)
They even give you the courtesy of re-locking the doors for you.
So here’s my advice: Periodically, walk around your car, especially after you park in a shopping center or any large parking area and always reports thefts immediately.
Note: Writer's name withheld for security reasons
