>>>> I make it a personal practice NEVER to discuss vacation plans over the air
>>>> I don't even like to mention the fact that my wife is in the car with me >
>>>> (meaning that the house is empty
>>>
>I think you guys are being silly! There are many ways a person can determine
>if a house is occupied, without listening for hams on the radio.
>While it's probably not a good idea to discuss your vacation plans on the
>radio, there is absolutely no evidence to link the information
>revealed in the QSO with the break-in.
One of the reasons the State of Illinois stopped giving car license
registration information to anyone who called a police station is that in the
Chicago area, burglers were sitting on bridges over interstates noting the
license plates of obviously loaded autos heading out of town. They would then
call the police and pretend to have some reason to contact that person (like
that person's car was bumped in a parking lot, etc.). The burglers would then
go to the home and carry off whatever they wanted. I am sure there are other
reasons of privacy which also added to the change of policy, but this does
show that some burglers are intelligent enough to locate homes of those on
vacation.
Add to the list of places to not discuss travel plans: cellular phones! There
are many scanners capable of monitoring the cellular band. It is more difficult to get information here because the person monitoring doew not have any way
to track the caller unless names and/or addresses are given during the call.
