Help!!! Thiefs!!! Burglars!!!

[ElansarGelmir]

About 2 weeks ago, some burglars just went into my unit and ransack the whole unit (thanks to a roomate who doesn't even bother to lock the door). Well, fortunately not many things were stolen, except for my roomate's handphone and another guy's palm top.

I believe this thing has been going on for a long time, but no one has done anything about this. I mean, the victims refused to go and lodge a report...

Are there any other solutions to prevent this despisable act?

[chiunlin]

The only solution: triple lock your doors.
Almost everyone in UiTM has had their share of experience with burglars and thiefs. My room was ransacked last year and fortunately, not many things were stolen.

And it's not that the victim refuses to lodge a report. So what if a report has been made? Have any action ever been taken? The only thing done that I know is that they posted notices around the hostels asking everyone to be careful with their belongings and to lock the doors.
But locking the door alone is not enough, as duplicate keys are easy to obtain.

[ElansarGelmir]

But if you lodge a report, at least others will not bound to repeat the same mistake that you have done. Take the 'kancil handphone' thief for example. Before we the second intakers come, there were several cases where a metallic kancil will stop a guy in front of impthiaz there and borrow their handphones to make a call. Then the kancil will just drive off after having the handphone.

However, no one was informed about this incident and because of that, one of my friend became the next victim. If everyone warns each other about their experience, we can take precautions against this and when the thief finally find that it is tough to 'cari rezeki' here, maybe he will just forget the whole idea or go to other places...???

[screw3d]

Get a latch and a padlock from the hardware store and install it on your door. The normal keyhole lock is way easy to pick open.

[ElansarGelmir]

But those thieves can also climb up our balconies ... There's this case i heard in Akasia that a thief climbed up their 4th floor balcony. A stunt man, i should say.

How about those handphone thiefs? What can we do about them?

[oshmelvin]

Get really cheap and out of date handphones like mine! I'm still using Nokia 3315 so I doubt that anyone would want to steal that at all. If you own an expensive handphone, don't lend it to anyone you don't know to avoid it being stolen. Aren't there any other phones such as public phones for those who need it ? Avoid lending your phone to others and direct those who need to use a phone to go to a public phone. =) Hmm... scary thought, coming in from the balcony. Since using a pad lock won't stop the thief from coming in, hide your valueables (inside your suitcase, underwear etc.....) when you are out. Report any cases of theft to the university. Probably, they can put guards on patrol. :D

[ElansarGelmir]

Haha... my friend's very old model of ericsson (kind of old type, bulky and big size) has also been stolen. Dunno what are they going to do with it.
I think Cemara's a little too big and the guards are too selamba to do anything... Any tom and harry can just walk in and out of the building without being suspected. These theives normally operate on Fridays... dunno why on that day.

[ElansarGelmir]

I think the thief should know their targets very well. They do not just randomly pick a room to break into. usually the rooms they got in have something valuable in it. Like Kenny's case. He just got 200 bux from someone and the next day, his wallet (which was just right beside him while he was ZZZZzzzz) went missing, together with his handphone while my room, unlocked (by some irresponsible roomate again) and with no one in, has nothing going missing. Even my discman on my bed was not touched. I dun think the thief entered my room...

[budakkerek]

my friend told me of this thing that happened in UTM Skudai (kinda off topic but what the heck)

anyone who has a laptop will definitely lose his/her laptop sooner or later coz there's this one group that goes around stealing ppl's laptop, no matter what the time is, no matter where you put/hide it. Scary...

[ElansarGelmir]

Wow... What if we locked our laptops to somewhere? You, know, the unbreakable lock (exaggerated... not really unbreakable)...

[budakkerek]

haha...dream on, baby! will still kn curi :evil:

[trishotiwuth]

Wow... What if we locked our laptops to somewhere? You, know, the unbreakable lock (exaggerated... not really unbreakable)...

Hmm...i don't think it would be practical to lock our laptops. anyway, by doing so you'd just be more paranoid than ever about losing your things. plus, chaining our laptops seem like a punishment to ourselves when the real culprits are the thieves! I think the best way to prevent your valuables from being 'conveniently lifted away', is to be alert at all times. Try not to put your stuff at risk and don't take things for granted. This means locking your room door/ locker/drawer (if possible) at all times. Keeping your things safe is your own responsibility so don't rely on roommates to look after them!

[b_ronick]

stealing and thefts are quite common in cemara and akasia..
strangers may just come in to the room and then scout whether there's anyone in the room..
if there is then they would come up with some excuse of looking for ppl and stuff...
if they find there aren't anyone in the room or the occupants is sleeping they would just go into the room and grab whatever valuables they can find..
there was once when my block, two ppl from 3rd and 5th floor respectively lost their valuables on the same day...
and they reported that the thief had checked every room from the block and she used the method as i have mentioned..
the nerve of some ppl!! :evil: :evil:
furthermore a lot of victims did report but nothin can be done by the guards i think as there are a number of thiefs who are students.. 8O 8O
how are they able to detect??
it would be difficult to keep track..
guess the only solution is be responsible of our own stuff and keep it locked in a safe place if possible..or just leave it at home if not needed...those are the only things that can be done.. :!: :!:

[budakkerek]

ha...better still, get a safe n put it in your room hahaha :)

[b_ronick]

haha...better still, get a safe n put it in your room hahaha :)

one good suggestion!! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

[ElansarGelmir]

Then it would be very troublesome for us to lock and unlock our safe whenever we need something from inside

[miraclesnfantasy]

just an experience...in this year alone..my brother's handphone was stolen (UIA) :( , my wallet went missing (IPBA) :cry: and my sister's handphone was also stolen,including a few of her basketball mates' handphones :( . My brother's phone...probably someone from his room. my wallet...might be my fault or a friend's carelessness. my sister's and her friends'... someone from her school..and they knew who it was. A group of my friends tried to help my sister and went to ask the guy for the stuff back 8) . Although they asked for it nicely..the guy who stole the stuff kept crying and promised to return the stuff. thing is..why do these people regret what they do after they've done the bad thing...hmm. :?. might be out of the topic here...but something to ponder about. :?

[SpRInG]

hmm.... just a piece of thought...

since burglary and theft events keep happening in Cemara and Akasia... don't you think something fishy is going on? As in think about it, how come, each time, the guard gets kononnya "stricter and stricter", burglary still happens....

sometimes, i couldn't help to think that actually this may be the job of certain dishonest guards.. or those who are responsible to take care of the security of the hostels...

and then sometimes i really cannot understand, the job of the security guard is to watch and guard the hostel right? But now, it seems that the job of security guards are more to catching students... rather than catching suspicious people or thief.... strange... very strange......

:roll: :roll: :roll:

[ElansarGelmir]

and then sometimes i really cannot understand, the job of the security guard is to watch and guard the hostel right? But now, it seems that the job of security guards are more to catching students... rather than catching suspicious people or thief.... strange... very strange......

Very true, especially the B-gatal Mak Guard. Always scold us for wearing shorts. Lucky this semester no more mak guards at cemara.

[b_ronick]

well, as everyone knows, one block in Akasia is under renovation. some say that the culprits are guys - the construction workers. how true the statement is, i really don't know. :oops: :?

true true
i agree...when it comes to this kind of things..you can't be too sure

[oshmelvin]

I think the best way to prevent a theft is to have a trustable friend to help you look after your things (for example lap tops) when you are away. Be wary of your surroundings and keep your eyes on your items at all times. Also, be sure to keep your items in a safe place, for example the cupboard that has a latch and a pad lock or a locked drawer. That will make it harder for the theives to get and i doubt that he will be able to break the lock without waking you up first at night. Always keep your door room locked and remind your room mate to do so too. If you're afraid of forgetting, get a note stuck on the door that says "lock the door". That will help you to keep the door locked at times. Also, it is important to have a place to hide your important items or valueable items at night (such as your wallet or handphone) and not next to you by your bed. That will make it an easy target. For your wallet, it is advisable to put it underneath your pillow and for the handphone get it stashed somewhere safe (for example, in between your clothings or something and get it locked up too). Report any cases of theft and make sure it's known to the public. That will keep the thief low for the moment. I believe that the thefts are mostly done by the students - theft of lap tops and handphones. So if the worst happens, lets say theft of a very expensive lap top, get the university to do a spot check from room to room if things gets out of hand. I wonder if there is such a thing such as the insurance for your items from the university. After all, they are responsible for you and your items since you're on their grounds. If they don't i think they should start the insurance system because they don't seem to take any action at all after the theft. If they are insuring the safety of your items, i think that would promt them to take action and be more careful (in a sense like the employment of more guards or something). :D

[hungwei]

Or turn your whole room into a safe...hehe

[chiunlin]

to ElansarGelamir:

I just walked into your room an hour ago and the door was unlocked and there was no one around!!

Looks like someone will never learn his lesson until his belongings are stolen.

[DecentMerson]

nah... even if it is lock also.... it is really easy to pick it....

even i did not learn the art of picking lock...i can pick his lock in seconds.... and they know how easy it is...

and with a big pair of scissors from Ikea...(which is now lost, and i suspect it is in ElansarGelmir's room), u can pick most of the lock(especially the onld one) in seconds... for the occupant in ElansarGelmir's room(one of them) he lost his keys and he uses a pair of scissors as key now....

[tree007]

burgalry.. ahhh.. i had my own fair share of experience in cemara....

as usual.. i'm a subang jayan.. went home for wekeend... come back... c locker ransacked... then did a list of items stolen:

2 alarm clocks (yeah, i got backup in case i oversleep)
1 biore body shampoo
1 followme shampoo
1 fresh n white toothpaste
1 Attack wahsing powder? (serbuk pencuci)
1 shirt
1 trackbottom
1 jacket
2 green pails
my bedsheet
n my dear pillow..... sob sob....

oh well... at least i get to sleep in my own room back home that nite... :P

[SpRInG]

got some suggestions....

try to pasang perangkap....

huh....... if lah, if i can get to catch the thief...... i'll surely belasah that person cukup cukup...... dun need to give face

kekekek...

that is if i manage to catch lah...

8O 8O 8O 8O 8O

[lonewolfhan]

Hmm.. i think the main precaution is to lock the MAIN DOOR of the unit... sigh~ dunno why some people juz dun like to lock it ! For convenience? Yeah.. u will only realize how danger it is when ur stuffs get stolen..

I heard b4 from a fren that some thiefs will juz try their lucks and open every door... if he gets the unit which is unlocked and nobody is in the unit.. he has gotten his opportunity.... If someone is in the unit.. he will juz pretend to say that he has entered the wrong room ! soo... lock the door... what the heck? izzit that troublesome to lock it????? Gerammm... (Psst Psst.. hinting my roomates!)

[kIdd0]

HAHA!! YES!! totally agree!! some people just complain and complain about how dangerous it is to leave their belongings around but never for once play their part like LOCK THE DOOR!!! Eventhough if the lock is easy to pick, at least if a thief shall come across a door which is locked and one which isn't.... it would definitely by easier to just walk into an unlocked unit rite? *sigh* my roomates never see this as an important thing to keep note... NEVER!!! n yet they dare to complain here and ther on how dangerous it is......i guess that they will only learn if one day, some crooked theif came in an "bungkus" all their laptops....THEN I SHALL SEE WHO WILL BE THE ONE CRYING......

[ElansarGelmir]

Chiunlin wrote:to ElansarGelamir:

I just walked into your room an hour ago and the door was unlocked and there was no one around!!

Looks like someone will never learn his lesson until his belongings are stolen.

DecentMerson wrote:
nah... even if it is lock also.... it is really easy to pick it....

even i did not learn the art of picking lock...i can pick his lock in seconds.... and they know how easy it is...

and with a big pair of scissors from Ikea...(which is now lost, and i suspect it is in ElansarGelmir's room), u can pick most of the lock(especially the onld one) in seconds... for the occupant in ElansarGelmir's room(one of them) he lost his keys and he uses a pair of scissors as key now....


Come on, you know that it's not my doing, rite? But how come you put it in such a way that I'm the one who did all this - the not locking the door, the scissors in my room (i dun even know there's a pair of scissors there) - and other stuffs? Make me sound like the culprit... :(
Yeah, I will reprimand my irresponsible roomate. Fancy losing his palm top and still hasn't learn his lesson. I guess some ppl never learn...

[ElansarGelmir]

Wah, all my roomates has gone home except hung wei and i. Very sien lar.... and my room is more vulnerable to thiefs!!!

[DecentMerson]

actually, if u really want to lock the door.... lock from the inside (the solid latch where u can turn) if u are inside...

bcoz the keys to the lock are really overduplicated and most of the previous ppl who stay in the room have a key to the main door...

and the best way is to keep someone to safe guard ur belongings...

and the 2nd best way is to lock ur stuff in the cupboard....

and never brandish ur new toys in front of others...

[b_ronick]

Wah, all my roomates has gone home except hung wei and i. Very sien lar.... and my room is more vulnerable to thiefs!!!

no one would know if you didn't tell that you and hung wei's are the one left in the room right? :lol: :lol: :roll: :lol: :lol:

[b_ronick]

actually, if u really want to lock the door.... lock from the inside (the solid latch where u can turn) if u are inside...

bcoz the keys to the lock are really overduplicated and most of the previous ppl who stay in the room have a key to the main door...

and the best way is to keep someone to safe guard ur belongings...

and the 2nd best way is to lock ur stuff in the cupboard....

and never brandish ur new toys in front of others...

yupz..some ppl can just go out to a key shop and then they can just buy the key with the same number...

to ask someone to keep your stuff...not a very good idea...unless the person is someone you can really trust..
it;s better if you yourself safe guard your stuff