Re: Disclosing private information.
 

When I was a mod on here I got sick of telling people on a lot of the Europe forums about it, when they were there, which floor, which block etc etc.
Consequently a lot of houses in Costa Esuri were broken into and I am sure someone gleaned the information the owners were posting.
Anyone can read these forums and with a little bit of knowledge of the search facility could easily set up a list of places that have just been fitted out and no one there till so and so, be very careful.

Re: Disclosing private information.
 

But they hardly speak English (let alone read it, let alone find this forum) out here + any Spaniard who does has a job as a waiter. Break inns are common here when the summerseason ends and the fishing boats are not working for 45 days. Any idiot knows that every holiday apartment has a tv, dvd player and other households, so these places are just sitting ducks, Safety grills or an alarm system are the solution against burglaries.

I think that putting personal info on a public forum should be done with great care, but I don´t think it leads directly to burglaries.

Re: Disclosing private information.
 

But it certainly doesn`t help by posting "anyone know a reja firm i am coming over so and so and need some to be fixed" and perhaps their previous post was about the lovely furniture etc they have just had put in.
It was a little while ago that 6 or 7 apartments were broken into in one go after they had been talking about golf trips etc if i remember.

Re: Disclosing private information.
 

Oh dear :unsure:

All I'm asking you is to help make peoples lives easier
Its up to you if you ignore me
I'm not judging people on their spelling, not everyone can spell properly.
However people CAN make the effort to conform to forum etiquette ... I hope you do to

Re: Disclosing private information.
 

Sure, that´s the way it happened.

There are in winter time over 10.000 empty holiday apartments here, but no they first checked on Britishexpats.com to make sure to pick the right ones!!! :rofl:

Re: Disclosing private information.
 

Yes my thoughts as well (oh dear)
You were polite & was just pointing in the right direction, nothing more !

Re: Disclosing private information.
 

Hi Jur. Absolutely right.

From my (professional) experience in Spain, when there is a glut of breakings in an apartment block (they occur quite often on the day a person arrives and has their holiday cash and most goodies, often still in their jacket pocket, where they carried it for safe keeping on the journey, hanging on the hook, whilst they nipped out for a quick meal or drink and to renew old acquaintances.) The first suspect for supplying the info to the thief is working on the reception desk. If the police are able to catch that person the run of breakings stop.

I still agree though in principle it is not a good idea to disclose certain info in a public arena.

Re: Disclosing private information.
 

I agree and security men, gardeners etc. Unbelievable the amount of keys circulating when units are let through different agents.

Re: Disclosing private information.
 

and, of course, people renting an apartment for several months are likely to get a spare set of keys cut, so that's more in circulation. When we bought our house in Spain, first job was to get new locks fitted for that reason.

Re: Disclosing private information.
 

The same applies to hire cars. Its easy, rent a car for a day, copy the key, then wait at the airport for some sucker to arrive, carefully lock all his gear in the boot, then follow the car, and when it parks up, Hey Presto its Christmas again !!!!!

Re: Disclosing private information.
 

Hardly a comparison, your local ferreteria wont have car key blanks or the corresponding chips needed for the security system.

Re: Disclosing private information.
 

Sorry Madrid I was in effect quoting from a case the other day when 4 Germans lost all their golf gear and other belongs. I agree it depends on the car, some keys can be obtained. I have a spare for my Toyota from a local shop, it does not have a chip.

Re: Disclosing private information.
 

When I was writing about the dangers of disclosing private information, I was thinking more of those instances on other forums, and there have been quite a few, when posters fall out and some unstable ones go looking for revenge.

Only a few years ago, and not all that far away, there was a forum get together and all hell broke loose. The Guardia Civil had to call for reinforcements.

Re: Disclosing private information.
 

I been to a couple of forum meet ups but thankfully they have always been really friendly and its been a pleasure to meet up with the peeps from them xxx

Re: Disclosing private information.
 

Yes, that's my (rather limited) experience, too. The problem with forums is that the written word is quite a terse form of communication. You don't get the inflections, or facial expressions or body language that we all rely on so much - even if we don't realise it.
With only the words on the screen to go by, some individuals are too quick to take offense, or if the words are ambiguous, get taken the wrong way. I've always assumed that if there is any possible interpretation that is NOT offensive, then that's what the author meant. I also make it a point that if I'm going to insult someone online, they'll be in doubt whatsoever that they've been insulted :eek: Anything else is just my poor expression, or a misunderstanding. :thumbup: