Prevent Your Car From Being Broken Into During Your Holiday Shopping Trips

Christmas shopping is one of the things you have to do during the holiday season and with shopping comes storing your purchased items in your car. Unfortunately, crime does happen.  How can you protect your car and items from burglary?

If you're like me when you shop you stop at one store, and throw your bags in the trunk, then you move to another store, and so on and so forth.  What you don't know, is it is highly possible that people are watching you and what you're doing.   I also have a habit of throwing bags into the backseat and unfortunately that just screams "break my window, steal my stuff."

So how do you protect your car and purchased items from burglary when you are shopping?

AAA Texas has some great tips on how to protect yourself.

Always lock your car and make sure all your windows are closed.   I know sometimes this is easy to forget, but it always double check and triple check.

As I mentioned earlier, I sometimes just toss my purchases into the backseat and I realized it's a bad idea.  Don't leave your belongings or all those purchases out in the open.  It's also never a good idea to leave empty shopping bags in your car.  Thieves don't know they are empty.

Don't leave your keys in your car or even leave your car running.  Did you know that most of the stolen cars in Amarillo, had the keys in them or they were running.

Always park in well lit and well populated areas.  This is not just for the safety of your car and belongings, but for you as well.  It's never fun walking through a dark empty parking lot to your car.

If you're prone to locking your keys in your car, you might have a spare key hidden.  It's never hidden, thieves have a way of finding your spare keys.

Here's an interesting tip, store your key fobs in metal containers when at home.   Radio signals that your fob puts off are blocked by the metal.  This prevents hackers from potentially hacking your key fob's signal, keeping them from opening your vehicle without the key.

These are just a few ways to keep your car and your personal items safe while shopping or at home.