My wife and I love to cruise.
It's the best buy for the
vacation dollars you spend. Great food, marvelous entertainment, a
chance to visit foreign countries, and you even meet some interesting
people who like to talk about themselves. Besides, you don't have to
make a bed, clean a bathroom, cook, serve. Just enjoy.
However, you do have to watch out for some scams, or extenuating circumstances that you would never suspect happening. Here's a confession from one who knows.
My wife and I have found it's the best way to get "prospects" when they are unaware of our true intentions which is to relieve them of a few of their valuables, but never on the cruise ship itself. No, we use a different method. We don't relieve them of their valuables on board, but from their home while they cruise. This provides us with great alibis, too.
Let me explain...really it's very simple.
The first thing we do is to review the ship's layout, and pinpoint where the most expensive cabins are located from brochures and information supplied unknowingly sometimes, by our travel agent, but mostly by the cruise lines themselves.
Prior to boarding, we have obtained different passports for each trip we take so that authorities do not tie into the fact that we are at sea when a consistent number of robberies occur to passengers' homes on land. After we board the ship, we pass by the cabins we have selected and note the names posted on the outside of the door (not all ships do this, but we definitely know of one but will not tell), so we are very selective on which cruise lines we sail on.
Over the next few days we make a few calls to the occupants of the cabins selected through the on-board phone system to determine where these passengers live. What we say exactly to obtain this information is a secret we will not expose. We also make calculated attempts to meet these selected passengers in various ways...at the poolside, during games played on board, trips to tourist sites, in the dining room and at entertainment venues, and especially at "art auctions" where they may be buying expensive artwork--another tip that these passengers have "money." We go anywhere we can come in contact with our selected "targets" to become extremely friendly and obtain more information than they normally would not expose.
Prior to all this modus operandi we use on board ship, we set up a special land plan as follows:
* We have found a former felon who has been convicted of burglary and wants to continue in this chosen profession, but with a bit more information than normally found. For instance, we can supply him (or her) exactly when the target's home will be empty because they will be on a cruise with us. We may also have information concerning the presence of a burglar alarm, dogs, visitors, housesitters, police checks...all important things to know beforehand. We might even learn how wealthy these cruisers are by knowing where they live since we can check various marketing Internet sites concerning the value of homes, possible income and the area in general.
* We bring our portable laptop with us to keep in touch with our land accomplice, providing there are Internet facilities aboard (now most ships have this capability).
* We try to give our land accomplice as much advance time as possible, especially since we may have to send him/her to distant locations that require long distance air flights to reach the cruiser's home. That's why we like long cruises because that gives us more time.
* We also use tactics to learn from our "prospects" what especially important things they may have that they like to boast about. It's amazing what people will tell you when you become "friends" on a cruise.
Financing our cruising and other living costs have been paid with this method. So far we have been quite successful although we are growing suspicious that our land contact is becoming a little greedy and not telling us the truth about what monies are produced by selling the stolen items. However, we are not going to push since he/she (we're not telling) really does all the hard work, and takes the most chances. Our "worker" has asked for a larger share of the pot; we'll give it since we really do not have much of a choice at the moment. You never know when things will change. We did buy our land contact some new up-to-date equipment to help enter homes more easily.
Sorry, we can't include our pictures with this confession. We really don't want to let you know when we may targeting you on your next cruise. But, Bon Voyage, anyway!
However, you do have to watch out for some scams, or extenuating circumstances that you would never suspect happening. Here's a confession from one who knows.
My wife and I have found it's the best way to get "prospects" when they are unaware of our true intentions which is to relieve them of a few of their valuables, but never on the cruise ship itself. No, we use a different method. We don't relieve them of their valuables on board, but from their home while they cruise. This provides us with great alibis, too.
Let me explain...really it's very simple.
The first thing we do is to review the ship's layout, and pinpoint where the most expensive cabins are located from brochures and information supplied unknowingly sometimes, by our travel agent, but mostly by the cruise lines themselves.
Prior to boarding, we have obtained different passports for each trip we take so that authorities do not tie into the fact that we are at sea when a consistent number of robberies occur to passengers' homes on land. After we board the ship, we pass by the cabins we have selected and note the names posted on the outside of the door (not all ships do this, but we definitely know of one but will not tell), so we are very selective on which cruise lines we sail on.
Over the next few days we make a few calls to the occupants of the cabins selected through the on-board phone system to determine where these passengers live. What we say exactly to obtain this information is a secret we will not expose. We also make calculated attempts to meet these selected passengers in various ways...at the poolside, during games played on board, trips to tourist sites, in the dining room and at entertainment venues, and especially at "art auctions" where they may be buying expensive artwork--another tip that these passengers have "money." We go anywhere we can come in contact with our selected "targets" to become extremely friendly and obtain more information than they normally would not expose.
Prior to all this modus operandi we use on board ship, we set up a special land plan as follows:
* We have found a former felon who has been convicted of burglary and wants to continue in this chosen profession, but with a bit more information than normally found. For instance, we can supply him (or her) exactly when the target's home will be empty because they will be on a cruise with us. We may also have information concerning the presence of a burglar alarm, dogs, visitors, housesitters, police checks...all important things to know beforehand. We might even learn how wealthy these cruisers are by knowing where they live since we can check various marketing Internet sites concerning the value of homes, possible income and the area in general.
* We bring our portable laptop with us to keep in touch with our land accomplice, providing there are Internet facilities aboard (now most ships have this capability).
* We try to give our land accomplice as much advance time as possible, especially since we may have to send him/her to distant locations that require long distance air flights to reach the cruiser's home. That's why we like long cruises because that gives us more time.
* We also use tactics to learn from our "prospects" what especially important things they may have that they like to boast about. It's amazing what people will tell you when you become "friends" on a cruise.
Financing our cruising and other living costs have been paid with this method. So far we have been quite successful although we are growing suspicious that our land contact is becoming a little greedy and not telling us the truth about what monies are produced by selling the stolen items. However, we are not going to push since he/she (we're not telling) really does all the hard work, and takes the most chances. Our "worker" has asked for a larger share of the pot; we'll give it since we really do not have much of a choice at the moment. You never know when things will change. We did buy our land contact some new up-to-date equipment to help enter homes more easily.
Sorry, we can't include our pictures with this confession. We really don't want to let you know when we may targeting you on your next cruise. But, Bon Voyage, anyway!
Bernard Block, editor & publisher of
[http://TheSeniorConnextion.com] covers news affecting senior lifestyles
from Monday-Friday on this web site. He also edits and publishes a
companion web site... [http://SNN-SeniorNewsNetwork.com] which covers
international senior news. He is editor of his condo newsletter,
CARRIAGE HILLS COURIER, in Hollywood, FL, as well as a few other
non-profit groups.
