Inside Justice Week
Your community, your justice system

advises reformed burglar Bob Turney, now a consultant to the probation service. "I know it sounds obvious, but 45 percent of burglaries happen this way. Burglars are always on the lookout for an open bathroom window or back door. It's amazing how many people make this simple mistake."

An intruder will be quick to stand on a wheelie bin and climb into an open upstairs window," says Turney. "So don't give thieves a helping hand. Keep your garden gate locked and consider displaying a 'Mind the dog' sign, even if you don't have one. A burglar won't want to run the risk of upsetting an angry dog."

Invest in alarms, extra window locks and always use them – even if you are just popping down the road," adds Turney. "While thieves are opportunists they are also lazy, They will only target homes that look easy to break into as they only have limited time to do so."

warns Turney. "It's so easy to poke a rod with a magnet attached to it through a letter box. It's easy to get hold of house and car keys this way. A good idea is to secure your letter box with an anti-tampering device, available from most DIY stores, for peace of mind."

Neighbourhood Watch groups are great for this. Burglars definitely avoid areas with security organisations in place. The chances of getting caught in those streets are much higher and not worth the risk," Turney admits. "If there is not a group in your area, buy timer switches for your lights. Many of these can now be text-activated. Also, when you go away, remember to cancel your milk and newspapers."

They could be assessing how easy it is to break into your home," warns Michael Foster, a reformed burglar who has worked for the BBC series 'Beat the Burglar' and 'To Catch a Thief'. "Display a 'No cold-calling sign' on your front window. If you do get caught by one, keep your front door closed as much as possible, then politely but firmly tell them you are not interested in their service and not to call at your property again. This gives a strong impression that you are safety-conscious."

says Foster. "Should you your home get burgled, it would probably be trashed, making it difficult to know what is missing. The reason for the mess is to scare and confuse you, giving the criminal longer to get away with the items. Having a photographic reference will help you to quickly identify what is missing. This is also helpful to the police when trying to track down unusual missing items."

Make the effort to hide these items in the loft or on top of high cupboards. If it's out of sight and not easily accessible, a thief won't ever discover it," claims Foster.

advises Foster. "If a burglar looks at a house and only the bathroom light is on, then probably only the owner is home, and that is a good time to try to sneak in. But having two lights on gives the impression there someone else at home, which discourages thieves."

says Turney. "If you are unlucky enough to be burgled, make sure you take extra precautions. Remember, the thief has been inside your property and now knows exactly where your security weaknesses are. In short, don't be a victim a second time."

says Foster. "Messy cars look more likely to have items to steal. If an owner leaves items strewn around the car, they are also more likely to have valuable items in their glove box or under the seat."

Most thieves are after what's in your car, rather than the vehicle itself," says Paul, a former car thief who now advises Lancashire police. "Thieves are after loose change, cigarettes anything so long as it has some street value. One approach is to leave your glove box open to show there is literally nothing in it."

says Foster. "A sucker mark on the windscreen is a giveaway that you own a sat-nav system. Even if you have taken the device with you, it could still give the thief a hope of finding something in the car worth stealing."

Foster advises. "If a thief is looking to steal car, they will target a vehicle that is easy to get away in. Straightening up or having to get out of a tight space will slow them down."

and accepting friends you don't know." Warns 'Tee' a former ID thief who now advises Capital One on identity security. Facebook is a great tool for cultivating information. Never put your full address, your exact date of birth, your phone number, details of where you work, names of pets or your email address on an open profile. These are all the details needed to steal your identity. Also, make use of the security settings. Are you really close friends with 299 people?"

Never use a link from an e-mail," warns 'Adam', a former fraudster who stole thousands of credit card details. "Suffice to say, I helped to set up replica websites which tricked customers into giving us their credit card details for goods they never received. Be aware, a give giveaway sign of a dodgy website is poor spelling and grammar, and there should always be a security icon (a locked keypad or broken-key symbol) where the web address is shown."

says Tee. "This is called "phishing" and is a trick used all the time to get the information fraudsters need to use someone's credit card. Your bank would never ask you to give this information. If in doubt, call your bank on the number printed on your statement or card. Don't call back the number that just called you as this likely to be a fraudster,"

don't leave your computer unattended while logged into shopping and banking websites," says Adam, who used to targeted unsuspecting victims this way and found it easy to harvest financial information. For extra security, make sure your computer is up-to-date with the latest anti-virus and firewall software. These are often free to download also the latest software updates when they appear on screen."

says Tee. "Once a fraudster has the credit card details of potential victim, they can trick the bank into sending out a replacement card to another address. It's amazing how much information can be found once someone has the card numbers, If you wait until the end of the month for a hard copy of your statement to arrive, it could be too late. Check online each week and query anything unusual."

and make sure all personal information is wiped from Blackberrys and PDAs before recycling them," adds Adam. "This is a new crime trend. But one that is set to cause lots of identity-theft problems. It's amazing how many people store financial data on their mobiles. Also, close down old bank accounts and cancel credit cards you don't need any more. You don't want these getting into the wrong hands."

no matter how insignificant you think they are." Tee adds, "Although most identity theft is now carried out via the internet, there are still criminals on the lookout for hard copies of bank statements, bills and other documents that help them apply for credit in your name."