“Rich People Always Want to Advertise Their Homes Are Secure” — Ex Cat Burglar Reveals How She Picked Homes to Burglarize

Ian Bick (@ianbick) interviewed a former cat burglar on his podcast where she divulged how she went about picking marks for her hits. He uploaded a snippet of their interview which went viral on the popular social media application.

At the jump, she stated that she always selected homes "that were nice" and worth "at least [a] million dollar[s]."

She made sure to burgle in "nice affluent neighborhoods" that were in a cul de sac so she knew where she was at any given time.

She said that she understood the psychology of her marks as well because both of her parents were "physicians" so she knew how people in these neighborhoods more or less lived.

"It's kind of the same thing," she stated while mentioning that everyone pretty much operates on the same level in these types of areas.

The former burglar said that the homes will probably have shrubbery she can hide behind and that they're probably going to "have a privacy fence of some kind."

She mentioned that she would go out of her way to ensure that the homes had alarm systems, adding that "rich people" always want to "advertise" that their homes are secure.

She said that she loved knowing this because it let her know that a household had "things to protect" and that since she was aware of the alarm system, she could formulate ways to work around it. She also remarked that looking through a window was easy because she could clearly see whether or not the alarm system was active: all one would need to do was look for a red or green light.

Her recommendation to folks with home security systems is to "stop advertising" them because all they're doing is giving cat burglars more data they can use to pull off a successful robbery.

She also noted that "rich people" allow their cats and dogs to roam around their houses freely.

Why is this important? She explained that if animals are able to walk around the house, then she's able to walk around the house too as motion sensors will more than likely be disabled.

She said that she knows the only thing she'll have to do in those cases is "break a window" and "not separate a magnet" and she's "in there."

As for pets, she said unless a person has a dog that's a highly trained "Belgian Malamar" that the dog isn't going to eat her and that she would always bring food for the pets like a sandwich or chicken and steak to keep them pre-occupied.

She went on to explain that she would often lead dogs to another room, shut the door, and then "go about" her business, which is stealing stuff from people's houses.

The time the cat burglar spent in the houses was restricted to two primary rooms: the master bedroom and the office, stating that they're the "only places" anyone really needs to go when they're robbing a home.

Other things she did: the the former burglar said that she was pulling off these robberies in Florida, and would prefer to pull off her heists on rainy days for multiple reasons: if someone spotted her in the mark's backyard, the droplets on the window inhibited their ability to really make out what they saw.

She also said that people on rainy days are usually inside of their homes, which means that there aren't going to be folks outside jogging, gardening, pushing their babies in strollers, or anything like that.

The ex-burglar said that she also made sure to drive the most non-descript car she could think of — a silver Impala with tinted windows.

In terms of her outfit, she said that she would wear scrubs and had a pre-made alibi ready and waiting in case anyone approached her: that she worked as an employee who performed spa services for dogs.

She added that she would always wear shoes that were either one size too big or one size too small.

It was a precaution she said she picked up from watching TV because she didn't want anyone picking up her "shoe print."

She also carried around "a little purse" with "tools in it" and she made sure to always look the part of a pet spa employee.

This allowed her to knock on the front door persistently to see if there was anyone at home. If someone answered, she would say she was there to pick up pets.

If the homeowners said that they didn't schedule a service she remarked that was so sorry and that she was going head back into her car to call her boss.

Depending on the size of the neighborhood, she added that she may stick around and maybe try to get inside of another home.

If someone didn't answer the front door, she didn't just go and decide to break windows and get inside of the house — but she had another line of defense.

That's where the fake wellness check comes in: she would enter the backyard and knock incessantly on back windows and call out a fake person's name. If someone did come out to the backyard and ask them what the commotion was, she knew she needed a different premise for being in their yard and it was that she was checking in on a friend's mother who wasn't answering her phone.

She said that people probably wouldn't be mad at her for doing that because she was attempting to do a good thing. But if there wasn't someone at home, she could try to find the master bedroom window, trace a hole in the window, and then remove the interior screen and get inside of the house.

The cat burglar mentioned that she would keep an eye out for any type of motion sensors or additional alarms in the room and stated that if people do have pets, they could still keep motion sensors on in their master bedroom, just shut the door to keep their pets out of it and keep the motion sensors enabled in their masted bedroom to help deter thieves.

The first thing she did, she said, whenever she entered someone's house before pilfering any goodies on the inside, is to lock the garage door that leads into the house, because the first thing she will hear is someone trying to open that door which is usually "never locked," she states.

The things she'd look for the most? Cash, gold, and then she would "get the hell out of there."