# Crime in costa del sol?



## Guest (May 22, 2012)

Hi,
I'm recently moved to Calahonda area, does anyone know what the crime situation is like in this area? Many thanks J x


----------



## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

I doubt if the situation in Calahonda differs much from that of the rest of the CdS.. Very high unemployment will always deliver high rates of theft of all types from muggings to house-breaking.

An Estepona Concejala told me last week that the Alcalde had responded to citizens' concerns about crime by getting more police in from Malaga and even Madrid. There is certainly a high police presence here - Nacional officers at roadblocks with guns at the ready are a common sight around these parts. We also see the Policia Local patrolling the streets of our village much more frequently.

All one can do is take reasonable precautions. Having been burgled -down to our carelessness, we should have hung a 'Bienvenido' sign on our garden gates - we now make sure the house is locked, shuttered and alarmed. I rarely go out with anything of value in my bag - cash and credit cards are kept in a slimline very discrete moneybelt on my person and my phone is in my pocket.

And we have a very large dog....


----------



## Guest (May 22, 2012)

Hi, thankyou for getting back to me, what about car crime? X


----------



## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

jojuanita said:


> Hi, thankyou for getting back to me, what about car crime? X


As in 'stealing your car'?

I don't think you can differentiate between types of theft in times of economic crisis.

Car theft is prevalent everywhere. In the Czech Republic, where we lived before coming to Spain, there was an interesting pattern to car crime: top-end cars were stolen to order for delivery in Eastern Europe and ancient Skodas were stolen as they lacked immobilisers and were viewed as 'spare parts stores' on wheels.

Like anywhere in the world, all you can do in Spain is take sensible precautions. 

A friend recently had her handbag stolen from a cafe/bar. Inside were her wallet, credit cards....*and a notebook containing details of her bank account numbers and all passwords to bank account and credit cards.*

By the time she realised her bag had gone her accounts had been cleaned out and she had lost several thousands of euros.

Of course I was sympathetic but my private thoughts were 'Silly cow'..... We do have to take some responsibility for our security, no?


----------



## Guest (May 22, 2012)

I meant in general, "break ins" even if there are no valuables in visible sight etc? 
So where is crime concentrated to would you say? Beaches, towns, cities, villages? What about private gates communities? Thankyou x


----------



## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

jojuanita said:


> I meant in general, "break ins" even if there are no valuables in visible sight etc?
> So where is crime concentrated to would you say? Beaches, towns, cities, villages? What about private gates communities? Thankyou x


Well, I'm not a police officer so I've no way of knowing about crime rates all over the CdS.

Crime is everywhere, just as in the UK. It is a mistake to think it is concentrated in affluent areas....the poor tend to suffer most from crime everywhere in the world. It's just that theft from the wealthy gets more publicity.

If I were you I wouldn't worry too much. Just take sensible precautions as you would anywhere in the world. Would you walk down Tottenham High Road at two in the morning waving a Prada handbag and an IPhone 4? Of course not...
And the same applies to the CdS.

We were burgled because we were silly and virtually invited the thieves in. We live in a large house in a fairly affluent Spanish area, true, but our neighbours aren't wealthy people, neither are we. 

A few years ago a member of an Irish Mafia gang was expertly ambushed and executed a few hundred metres up the road by a Russian Mafia gang - but people like that pose no threat to 'ordinary' law-abiding citizens. If they did, they would attract too much police attention as there would be public outrage -especially if foreigners were involved.


----------



## lynn (Sep 25, 2008)

jojuanita said:


> I meant in general, "break ins" even if there are no valuables in visible sight etc?
> So where is crime concentrated to would you say? Beaches, towns, cities, villages? What about private gates communities? Thankyou x


During the peak tourist season, there is always a spate of car break ins - they target the obvious rental cars parked at the beach etc... 

I wouldn't take any less precaution in our 'private gated community' than any other situation tbh... we have neighbours who have been burgled in ours a few weeks ago. As Mary says, take sensible precautions at all times. We put shutters down, close and lock doors and windows and set an alarm when leaving the house, and also at night.


----------



## Guest (May 22, 2012)

Ok thankyou all very much for the info, I've always been security conscious and will remain that way 
X


----------



## Sirtravelot (Jul 20, 2011)

mrypg9 said:


> As in 'stealing your car'?
> 
> I don't think you can differentiate between types of theft in times of economic crisis.
> 
> ...


Thank you. This was the funniest thing I've heard all week.


----------



## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

mrypg9 said:


> As in 'stealing your car'?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Happened to a friend of ours . bag lifted from bar, money taken within 12mins from the only atm in their town without a camera !!
Bank re-imbursed them completely. 
Your friend does realise that under Spanish law she is only responsible for the first 150€ , regardless of the fact that the pin numbers/details were in her purse ? 
Most banks won't even claim the 150 €. If she is having problems she just needs to ask to see the 'defensor del cliente' .


----------



## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

gus-lopez said:


> Happened to a friend of ours . bag lifted from bar, money taken within 12mins from the only atm in their town without a camera !!
> Bank re-imbursed them completely.
> Your friend does realise that under Spanish law she is only responsible for the first 150€ , regardless of the fact that the pin numbers/details were in her purse ?
> Most banks won't even claim the 150 €. If she is having problems she just needs to ask to see the 'defensor del cliente' .


Yes, she got her cash back in the end, Gus..100%

I think she got her brain in gear too...


----------



## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

My mother had her bag stolen from her in a restaurant where she was taking part in a quiz. Got everything back within 2 hours (probably via the theif) except the camera. I always new quizzes were far more dangerous than they seem on the surface.


----------



## Solwriter (Jan 10, 2012)

mrypg9 said:


> Yes, she got her cash back in the end, Gus..100%
> 
> I think she got her brain in gear too...


Crime is on the increase (or at least it appears to be) everywhere, whether it's the Costa del Sol, the Costa Blanca or the UK, and the only thing we can do is become extra vigilant. It may not save us completely from being burgled, having our purse stolen, or even our identity stolen, but it can cut down on the consequences.

Mary and Gus make interesting points about the nature of today's crimes - so many criminals now use technology rather than simply breaking in and stealing your property (although that is definitely a concern and why we, in some ways, are happy to have 9 dogs on the premises!).

My husband recently downloaded a key-logger virus onto his PC, simply by leaving his brain in his xxxx's and clicking on a picture link in MSN Messenger, supposedly sent by a friend... The key-logger gained access to our joint bank account and my husbands login and card details, so the thief was able to make purchases with my husband's details all over the internet.

Luckily our bank texts us to confirm any large transaction, otherwise that bank account would have been completely wiped before he had any knowledge of this.

Like Mary's friend, he got all the money back via the bank, after filing a denuncia at the local Guardia, although this did take a few weeks.

He has now done a complete virus and malware sweep and even a re-installation of Windows on his pc. 
Perhaps he's learned his lesson, but I doubt it!


----------



## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Solwriter said:


> Crime is on the increase (or at least it appears to be) everywhere, whether it's the Costa del Sol, the Costa Blanca or the UK, and the only thing we can do is become extra vigilant. It may not save us completely from being burgled, having our purse stolen, or even our identity stolen, but it can cut down on the consequences.
> 
> Mary and Gus make interesting points about the nature of today's crimes - so many criminals now use technology rather than simply breaking in and stealing your property (although that is definitely a concern and why we, in some ways, are happy to have 9 dogs on the premises!).
> 
> ...




Sol.....what's a 'key -logger'? I'm a total IT numpty so I'm alarmed in case I meet one and don't recognise it.....


----------



## Guest (May 23, 2012)

It's a kind of computer virus (haha look at us talking about illness again lol) anyway its caught by downloading from usually sites you don't normally go to, or more often than not from an attachment or link in an email, if you're not expecting an email from someone or you get emails from strangers then don't open the links inside and don't ever go to a site via a link in an email anyway coz it can take you to a site that's harmful to your computer, best advice is to always have your important info backed up, don't over stress about virus's as such .. Just proceed with caution. 
Key loggers work out what your passwords are etc by monitoring what keys you press on what sites you go to, get virus checker installed on your PC and always use it to check attachments even those from friends coz a friend may have the virus and send it to you without knowing.
Avg free used to be a good virus checker, norton security etc don't half make your pc run slow tho.
X


----------



## Solwriter (Jan 10, 2012)

jojuanita said:


> Key loggers work out what your passwords are etc by monitoring what keys you press on what sites you go to,


Exactly!
It's like having someone looking over your shoulder and taking notes while you are typing all your bank account or credit card details, passwords, etc online.
And they are a bxxxxx to get rid of too, because they hide in files all over your PC.

I find the best anti virus to be Avast Free, as it's nowhere near as clunky as AVG (and Norton... would never go there!).

But as you said, the only way to protect against a key-logger is never open a link in an email you are not sure about, or a picture, or in fact any link to anything you are even a little uncertain about. And NEVER open a link in a messaging application.

The key-logger allowed the owner to take over my husband's email accounts and his Facebook page as well as many other things.
All his contacts were getting 'offers' of things to buy online (and of course links to click on...), ostensibly from him!


----------



## Lucie123 (Dec 7, 2011)

A.v such as kaspersky and probably alot of other offer a virtual keyboard as added protection against keyloggers so you dont have to press any keys on the actual keyboard


----------



## Solwriter (Jan 10, 2012)

Lucie123 said:


> A.v such as kaspersky and probably alot of other offer a virtual keyboard as added protection against keyloggers so you dont have to press any keys on the actual keyboard


Good point, thanks for that!


----------



## Guest (May 24, 2012)

Being a pointyhead, it is worth pointing out that only acquire AV, Anti-Malware from reputable sources. There are many fake sites with downloads for AVG, Kaspersky etc, so look carefully at the URL before clicking-through.

Also, avoid using the likes of Cnet.com or Download.com to get these products as they tend to insist that you load their Download Managers to "facilitate" getting this and other software. Invariably, these Download Manglers are full of bloatware and install a whole bunch of clart in your browser, hijack your home page and do many other useless things. 

Thought it was worth pointing out.

URL`s for major products below.

AVG Free Version  - I`ve been using this for years, but it is getting very bloaty, well, for me anyhow.

Kaspersky OK, but bloaty.

Norton  - Be advised, Norton is utterly bloaty and will make sure ****h run like a dog with no legs.

Avast - Up and coming product, very fast and does what it says on the can. Works on Android as well, which is nice 

Zone Alarm have recently added AV capabilities to their excellent firewall. ZA are owned by Checkpoint, manufacturers of some of the best commercial firewall products going.


----------



## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Yossa said:


> Being a pointyhead, it is worth pointing out that only acquire AV, Anti-Malware from reputable sources. There are many fake sites with downloads for AVG, Kaspersky etc, so look carefully at the URL before clicking-through.
> 
> Also, avoid using the likes of Cnet.com or Download.com to get these products as they tend to insist that you load their Download Managers to "facilitate" getting this and other software. Invariably, these Download Manglers are full of bloatware and install a whole bunch of clart in your browser, hijack your home page and do many other useless things.
> 
> ...


I've always got on rather well with Norton but would recommend steering well clear of Nod32 (like it slowed start up to 20 minutes when with Norton it was 20 seconds)


----------



## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

In addition to my AV I use two programs to check regularly that my pc is free from malware, trojans and key loggers as well as ensuring that registry errors and temp interenet files are properly removed. They are Glary Utilities and Malwarebytes, both of which offer free versions which update regualarly. Malwarebytes is especially useful if you do get hit with some form of virus as it will, unlike many av packages, completely remove the infection.


----------



## Lucie123 (Dec 7, 2011)

Yeah i use malwarbytes free version aswell along with kaspersky interner security for real time protection. mbytes is very good although sometimes it can be to good interms of the false positives it can bring up. i find kaspersky very easy to use as its kinda like anti virus for computer idiots. ie everything is set up in a very basic and easy to understand and use format


----------



## Solwriter (Jan 10, 2012)

Carrying on with this off topic bit (which I started )....

I use Malwarebytes too (although I cant find a link for the official free version anymore...just shareware - I update mine direct from my pc).
Edit - Found it 
Malwarebytes.

And I use CCleaner, for those programs which are stubborn enough not to let you delete them with the Windows system and for several other cleaning up processes.
However, use CCleaner with CAUTION (in other words, read the instructions first!), otherwise you could lose data you actually want to keep.


----------



## Lucie123 (Dec 7, 2011)

Dont have a direct link but put m.bytes forum in google and it will take you to the offical forum and theres links in the news section to the latest version


----------



## Solwriter (Jan 10, 2012)

Found it on the official site after I first posted - see edit.


----------



## Pearls (May 25, 2012)

:clap2: I was in Estepona last week and thought it felt very safe compared to the UK where I would never dream of walking around alone at night.


----------



## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Pearls said:


> :clap2: I was in Estepona last week and thought it felt very safe compared to the UK where I would never dream of walking around alone at night.


I live near to Estepona and just love the place. It's lovely early in the morning and in the evening...that's when I like it best.


----------

