Whats in your shed & the internet

[Mick22]

This has probably been raised on here before but just in case....

I used to do some work "finding" people that owed money and quite often it is very easy to work out where someone lives by just using the internet, we all think we are careful with the info we devulge but we all tend to leave footprints wheather we mean to or not. Lots of small pieces of info which by themselves mean nothing but someone with a lot of time on their hands can put it all together

I could ramble on all day but one thing you need to be very careful of is listing your prized possessions on a "whats in your shed" topic and leaving a trail to the door. The easiest way to do this is by having a forum name and an Ebay name that are similar. Especially if it is a name that is a bit different, it is easy to search for on Ebay through their search engine. If you have an Ebay account in most cases I can work out your address!!

Unfortunately not all scumbags are stupid and some are quite capable on the internet. This sort of theft is not uncommon in the classic car scene but luckily it doesn't seem like we have been hit by it yet.

I know its sad that I even need to bring this up & yes I am more paranoid about bike theft than most but do yourself a favor and don't use common forum names....especially on Ebay

[Freakshow]

Ones comes to mind eh ...... Firko :OP

[firko]

Has the world turn to shit so badly that we have to hide behind an alias in everything we do? I've been robbed in the past and hated it but I've never let the experience rule my life. I take extraordinary precautions to protect my toys but refuse to hide them and myself from the world. I'm pretty well known within our sport and reasonably vocal with my opinions so it wouldn't be too long before someone saw through any nom de plume I chose to use. I've been Firko from day one and won't be changing because of paranoia that someone will use it to do me a disservice it any time soon .  I understand Micks concerns and agree with him that there are some scumbags that can trace us through the web but I'm not going to let paranoia dictate what I do and how I operate.

I know a particular bloke who told me he won't tell people what he's got in his shed for fear of the wrong people getting hold of the information and knocking off his stuff. On two recent visits to this blokes house and  finding nobody home I discovered the garage roller door unlocked both times and his daughters Vespa scooter sitting in the driveway with the keys in it the second time. My point is that while posting photographs of your stuff on the forum probably isn't the best idea, not making sure the simple things like actually locking your shed and immobilising your toys are far more important.
If security is a worry, invest in motion detectors, camera surveillance setups and other security measures that are now comparitively cheap and freely available thanks to our brothers in China. That's far more productive than hiding yourself and your stuff from the world.

[Mick22]

I know what your saying Firko, everyone has to find there own balance of security they are happy with and I'm not suggesting anyone should not post pictures or list whats in their shed on here.
 Just don't make it too easy for the scumbags.

I have had a lot of mates lose bikes in the past thru adds in the trading post because they were careless or unaware, just wanted to point out that Ebay has become the new shopping center for scumbags just like the trader was in the past.

Unfortunately I think you do need to "hide" a little on line. Just like leaving all your bikes out on the front lawn for all to see isn't a great idea because you never know who is driving passed, the internet can be a bit the same because you never know who's on here.

I'm not suggesting anything life changing or letting it rule your life, just an easy precaution thats free and easy to do

[Doc]

These bikes protected by shotgun 6 nights a week, you guess which six I always like that one very soon anyone who wants to take any of my decent bikes will have to drop both wheels and probably the forks to get them out the door and down the stairs. They better bring a mate or 2 as well and will need some big assed bolt cutters to cut the chain on the gate. They also better know just when me or my 4 legged friend aren't home and they'll need to keep out of veiw of Gladies Cravatts next door cause she'll have the numberplate, people involved and vehicle description in about 5 seconds flat. seriously though, my best stuff is coming up here with me and to be honest I am more concerned about fire and not being here to throw the stuff out the window :'(

[Lozza]

That's all small fry after reading the Jeffery Dever novel 'Broken Window' that has a lot of this as it's premis the reality  of data mining is even more frightening. We will soon live in a world where nothing I mean absolutely nothing is private.You can be tracked, scanned and logged every second of the day or night.All you need is computing power to assemble and analyise the data.You might think "If you have nothing to hide well you have nothing to fear" well if that's what you think just send me you front door key,address and computer passwords and I'll come around and snoop while your not there.The future will make Orwell's 1984 look like a school camp.

 http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1d6ca_national-id-cards-rfid-chips_news

Included in this is the ability to evesdrop on emails, phone calls and internet usage and compile profiles on who you are 'tethered' to via communications.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ECHELON

After wading through all that think it's all a bit to James Bond, pie in the sky, post modern paranoia or is it???

http://www.instructables.com/id/Yellow_Dots_of_Mystery_Is_Your_Printer_Spying_on_/

Keeping your old dirt bike in the shed is the least of your worries.

[Mick]

I have one way in and out of my yard and if you can get passed the 2 camera's , 2 dogs and 4 dead bolt locks on the first door you find,  you would think you were going well, except then there is 2 more camera's looking at you,,, then you will need to get in to my shed, yet another challenge, if you do get in, then it just gets harder for any scum that wants my bikes, plus my bikes dont have front wheels left on them, there locked up at another place, so im thinking there is not to many people around that can ride this way.

O and i also forgot i have 3 neighbours that do plenty of        for me  

[Mick22]

Hey Lozza, we could put RFID's on our bikes then when they get knocked off we can go and pick them up Just need to hide a philly cream chesse lid in your airbox

[Freakshow]

The ink dot part is true but for the wrong reason they described.   I consult on tech for RICOH where we sell High end colour printers, copiers, the reason each unit uses a data dot type back print is to identify the unit, why ?  it was determined since about 1990's that they were getting too good in there reproduction and many people wouldnt stop at the sticker on the front thats says DO NOT COPY licenses, money, securties etc so. so the ony way to link a unit to a conterfit is the serial trail it leaves.  Engraving plates where well out of date these where like those rolling MEth cooking labs in hotels

Infact we had a case in Adelaide about Few years back when we sold a guy a $40k colour copier on finance he made the first 5 payments then he disappeard and the machine was found burnt out in a fire, we later had to appear in court as Expert witnesses in a Fed court case linking the unit to him ( the unique series of dots are held on a database for each unit) and a stack of passed 100 notes, it was the only way to link the notes to a point of origin, last i heard he was OS and they had put out a deport on him if they found him, but it was at the same time we released the $100 notes if you remeber the first ones where white paper just before they went to the plastic window versions we have now, apparently it was done a great deal and they pulled back on the hundreds and publicised what they look liked to cut down on people passing them.     

I have heard a few great conterfiting stories, one of the best ones i remeber is a guy who cut the notes into strips and took out a slice , then taped back the note ( as in it was rip repaired ) then he joined up all the little bits to form one note, which he would tape all back to gether and presented as it accidently got shredded, no one checked they we correct serial numbers and the banks took them back.  A Lot of trouble to make one good note out off 20 or so donors, but if you did one ever hours thats like getting $100 tax free an hour.


hAve to agree with firko and others that the DVD style recorders are soooo cheap now you need one hooked up, its not so much the fact when they steal somthing but the stress of not knowing who, if you can at least see who was it that came in you feel so much better about oesfinding them one day.   Not knowing is the part that does your head in cause you no longer know who to trust

[VMX247]

It did freak ( ) me a bit when I punched in vmx247 for google search (yes, I confess looking for myself) but then I though if anyone steals my ID or personal information,,,,good luck to em, 

RE:saying very little on this forum = a search on here for wife ,(that can/could be a concern too)

anyway if ya want to rob a bank invite me,
cause I only got a few chooks and a few pre 75's.

[Doc]

if they want my bank account details they are quite welcome to it..probably take one look and laugh their thieving heads off. They might even leave a donation hmm... if someone wants something bad enough there is little that is going to stop them. Write down frame, engine numbers and serial numbers of valuables as this 'may' help with recovery but best advice is be vigilant and don't link bank or paypal to your savings account use another account and transfer money in as needed. If someone wants to drop over and try to rip off something the size of a bike then they will need to be somewhat more than a regular everyday opportunist thief. Wheels off the bikes is alway a good deterent but it's a pain in the arse also  

[mainline]

I've seen Doc's "dog" and I do use the term loosely. There's no friggin' way I'd be in his yard without Doc standing beside me!

The bloody thing scared the shit out of me even when it looked happy!

[shorelinemc]

rotties and cattle dogs together i find work best  one goes for the front and one for the back a also works well on godbotherers and door to door salesmen