BREAK-IN THE CODE
All the chilling signs burglars use to mark houses they plan to target – and exactly what they mean
December and January are the months a home is most likely to be targeted by raiders
THESE squiggles might look like nothing more than bad graffiti, but if you find them on your house they could be a sign of something more sinister.
Security experts have revealed the meanings behind the “burglars’ code” used to mark houses they plan to target.
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Statistics show December and January are the months a home is most likely to be targeted by raiders, with 21 per cent of burglary claims made during the festive period.
While some crimes of this nature are opportunist, other burglars pre-plan and operate in gangs, leaving these markings for other members.
Among the signs are the “thieves guild code”, dubbed the “Da Pinchi Code”, which uses symbols to indicate whether the property is likely to yield anything of value and how many people live there.
Criminals scoping out houses are most likely to daub the tags on to walls, driveways and fences in white or blue chalk, or spray paint.
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According to experts, burglars have also used string tied to fences, stickers on bins and stones to indicate houses of interest.
Another of their devious tricks, which started in Manchester around 2021, was to leave kidney beans on the doorstep.
If the beans were not cleared up, the would-be thieves would know the property was vacant.
Here, we reveal what some of the symbols mean . . .
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