Hurricane Bill and the Midwest tornadoes: Short- and long-term planning

Hurricane Bill is strengthening before a possible landfall on the Canadian Maritime coast, while Midwesterners are weathering severe thunderstorms in the wake of Wednesday’s tornadoes that struck parts of Minnesota and Nebraska.

These recent posts can help you cope with natural disasters of all kinds:

• Our Storm & Emergency Guide includes articles, downloads, and videos on the products and procedures that help you assess your risk and plan proactively.

• The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recently issued an updated forecast for a below-normal Atlantic hurricane season but noted a past history of severe storms late in the season.

• Many insurers have reduced coverage and increased deductibles for perils like wind storms and hurricanes, making it even more important for you to make wise decisions about additional flood insurance. Watch the video above for more on flood insurance—Gian Trotta | e-mail | Twitter | Forums | Facebook

Weekend Project: Strike out burglars with a beefed-up strike plate

Security experts stress that you should never leave doors unlocked or windows open even when you're just outside doing chores—burglars can quickly enter your home and snatch your valuables. Other thieves, however, are less subtle and will kick in a door while you're out of the house. With summer-vacation, -staycation, and -paycation season in full swing, you'll want to take steps to prevent a burglary when you're gone.

Our past tests of wood, fiberglass, and steel entry doors and door locks found that some models resisted kicks, drills and picking better than others. Adding a stronger metal strike plate with 3-inch screws that went into the framing improved the kick-in resistance of all the weakest locks; three models actually went from the lowest to the highest score in that test after the sturdier strike plate was installed.

Buy a high-security strike plate that comes with 3-inch screws (about $10) and, using your cordless drill/driver, mount the strike plate into the doorjamb with the screws. Those longer screws will lodge deeper into the framing and help the strike plate withstand kicking and hammering. See the video at right for more details.—Gian Trotta | e-mail | Twitter | Forums | Facebook

Essential information: "Keep Your Home Safe" offers many more low-cost, commonsense ways to boost home security. Also check out related stories on bump keys, burglar-alarm scams, and Rex Plus, the "Electronic Watchdog."

Bad News: Bump keys can facilitate burglaries and break-ins

"Police are reporting five attempted burglaries in the township between Sunday and Wednesday. It is not yet determined whether the burglaries are related or not."

That's how a news story last week in my local weekly newspaper started a report on the recent rash of burglaries in the town.

Over the nine years I lived there, my town in the New Jersey suburbs has generally seen very little crime, though it's not immune to burglaries—in fact, my home was broken into in 2005, as we reported in "During the Holidays, Don't Give Crooks the Gift of Opportunity." Although that article focuses on the end-of-year holidays, its advice is applicable year-round. Also learn how to prevent home break-ins, and follow these tips to make any door more secure against break-ins.

It sure seems as if burglaries are on the rise nationwide during this recession. NBC's Today Show recently ran a "Today Investigates" segment in which consumer correspondent Janice Lieberman covers the phenomenon of bump keys and how they can facilitate home burglaries. (Lieberman didn't actually use that term because she didn't want to abet any wannabe criminals, but that's what the story was about.)

As we reported in "Unlocking the Truth Behind Bump Keys," a bump key is made by taking a key that already fits into a particular brand of lock and filing it down. The Web is filled with instructional videos on how to make a bump key (thanks, YouTube et al.).

Several manufacturers have introduced locks designed to thwart bump-key burglars, including the Kwikset SmartScan door lock and the Schlage LiNK system, which uses biometrics technology. We haven't tested these locks and don’t know how they will perform against a kick-in attack, a much more likely scenario than a burglar using a bump key.—Steven H. Saltzman | e-mail | Twitter | Forums | Facebook

Essential information: Read our reports on door locks and entry doors. And don't get ripped off by an alarm company.

Product Preview: Schlage LiNK system ushers latchkey kids into the digital era

Crime-prevention experts always warn against giving out spare keys or hiding copies outside your home. Some manufacturers use biometric technology to keep duplicate keys out circulation, including Kwikset, whose SmartScan dead-bolt door lock can recognize up to 50 different fingerprints.

The latest technology to enter the home-security market allows you to use your cellphone and computer to control and monitor access to your home.

The Schlage LiNK system is designed to let you log in and create temporary codes that a contractor or guest, for example, can enter into a keypad on the door lock. A module the size of a deck of cards connects to a broadband modem and uses encrypted radio-frequency signals to control the door lock. It will also send you a text message to alert you when your latchkey—or is that latchcode?—kid has arrived home.

The system retails for $300 and includes a standard lockset with a 10-number keypad and conventional key. Schlage charges a $13 monthly fee for the remote-access service, which you can also use to control devices that use the Z-Wave protocol, says the manufacturer. We have not tested this product.—Gian Trotta| e-mail | Twitter

Essential information: Read about some other ways to boost home security and avoid these burglar-alarm-company scams. And learn about the favorite tool of some crooks: bump keys.

Modern Crimes: Florida homeowner watches her home being burglarized via the Web; perps arrested

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Buzzword: Foreclosure “Rescue”

What it means. While the White House has pledged $75 billion to stem foreclosures, plenty of scam artists are getting in on foreclosure “rescue” measures. “Just as this administration has intensified our efforts to help homeowners, those who would seek to prey on the most vulnerable also seek to intensify their efforts as well,” said Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner at a joint press conference yesterday with the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission. To date, the FBI is investigating approximately 2,100 mortgage-fraud cases.

Why the buzz? The Federal Trade Commission yesterday announced a crackdown on foreclosure scams. The agency has taken legal action against the Federal Loan Modification Loan Law Center (shown), Bailout.hud-gov.us, Home Assure d/b/a Expert Foreclosure, Hope Now Modifications LLC, and New Hope Property LLC d/b/a New Hope Modifications LLC. The agency has sent letters to another 131 companies suspected of engaging in deceptive practices related to foreclosure rescue.

Fraudulent firms often create a false government affiliation, for example by including ".gov" in their URL. Their marketing literature then lures distressed homeowners with reassuring terms like “guarantee” and “97 percent success rate.” Homeowners who bite are charged exorbitant up-front fees ($1,500 to $2,500 in the case of Home Assure) for services they never receive.

The FTC also announced an outreach program to help consumers spot foreclosure-rescue scam artists from genuine housing counselors such as Hope Now, the Homeownership Preservation Foundation, and NeighborWorks America.

A foreclosure-rescue company probably isn’t legit if it does any of the following, says the FTC:

 
• Instructs you not to contact your lender, lawyer, or credit or housing counselor.

• Accepts payment only by cashier’s check or wire transfer.

• Suggests you lease your home so you can buy it back over time.

• Asks you to make mortgage payments directly to it rather than to your lender.

• Tells you to transfer your property deed or title to it.

• Offers to buy your property for cash at a fixed price that is not set by the housing market at the time of sale.

• Offers to fill out paperwork for you.

• Pressures you to sign paperwork you haven’t had a chance to read thoroughly or that you don’t understand.

If you feel you're getting ripped off, contact a counseling agency certified by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. You can also get advice from the Homeowner’s Hope hotline (888-995-4673) and the Institute for Foreclosure Legal Assistance.—Daniel DiClerico | e-mail | Twitter

Essential information: Read "Financial Traps Are Flourishing," from the March 2009 issue of Consumer Reports, for more advice on avoiding mortgage scams.

Tip of the Day: Don’t get ripped off by an alarm company

The scenario: A representative from a home-security company knocks on your door and offers you a free alarm system in exchange for displaying his company’s sign on your lawn. Swayed by the prospect of getting a security setup gratis, you sign a long-term monitoring contact and end up stuck with a shoddy installation and substandard equipment and service.

Learn more about this type of scam—and, more important, how to avoid it—by reading the Scam Alert in the June 2008 issue of Consumer Reports.

Buzzword: Biometrics

What it means. Biometrics is a science that has developed methods of using one or more unique physical characteristics—fingerprints, irises, voices, facial features—to identify and recognize people. The characteristics are recognized by a sensor and converted into digital form. In the case of iris recognition, the sensor might be a digital camera, whereas with fingerprints, a touchpad scanner would be the sensor.

Biometrics represents a brave new world in personal identification and security. While PINs and passwords are based on what you know, and keys and smart cards are based on what you have, biometrics is all about who you are. This genetic basis makes biometrics a highly secure and convenient way for people to protect their possessions, right down to their personal identities.

Why the buzz? Biometrics used to be the stuff of science fiction (think of Captain Kirk using voice recognition to control the Star Trek Enterprise), but the technology is in wide use today, frequently with personal electronic devices. A growing number of laptop computers, including the Lenovo IdeaPad Y510, are already equipped with biometric sensors. And, you can buy fingerprint sensors by themselves or in portable flash drives to add to any PC. In Europe and Asia, fingerprint-recognition is practically standard on cell phones. It should be huge in North America too, but not until mobile banking, whereby you'll use your cell phone to pay for items at the register, goes mainstream.

Similarly, door locks of the future might rely more on biometrics than conventional keys or security codes. At the 2008 International Builders' Show, my colleagues and I encountered many companies displaying keyless locksets. We haven't tested the devices, but the KwikSet SmartScan (shown being programmed; watch the product-preview video to see how the SmartScan works) and the New Biometric Solutions Biolock are two that caught our eye.

Even the government is keen on biometrics. In a 2006 speech on immigration reform, President Bush told a crowd at the Yuma Sector Border Control Headquarters in Arizona, "We need a tamper-proof ID card [for all temporary workers] based upon modern biometrics."€ Elsewhere, biometric-driven security measures are already in place. For example, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security takes a photograph and fingerprint image of most foreign visitors entering the country, and the Transportation Security Administration is testing out retinal scans and fingerprint identification at airports.

We're not sure if biometrics can make the country safer, but the technology could be a boon to home or computer security.—Daniel DiClerico

Essential information: Read our list of essential steps to avoid identity theft. If you're not ready to invest in biometric locks for your home, our coverage of door locks has plenty of information on the traditional kind.

Protect Your Investment: Don't be a bump key victim

A Google search of the term “bump keys” provides 50,200 results, a lot for a term many of you might not be aware of but a minute number in a world where “Britney Spears” generates 99,300,000 results and “Barack Obama" nets 29,600,000.

But that doesn't mean bump keys aren't big. Depending on whom you talk to, this illegal activity is on the rise. In a nutshell, a bump key (shown) allows a burglar to modify a key and use it, along with a “bumping” tool like a mallet or hammer, to open a lock.

What’s disturbing about the Google results for bump keys is that the search links you to video tutorials on how to pick locks and sites that sells bump-keys sets that, as one puts it, “Easily open doors and locks.”

Read “Unlocking the truth behind bump keys” to learn how to avoid break-ins at your home. And follow our advice below to prevent a break-in at your home.

International Builders’ Show Product Preview: Kwikset SmartKey

The Kwikset SmartKey is the first door lock you can rekey in seconds without having to replace the lock. That means you can let contractors or painters into you home with the key you gave them, say when you’re at work or our of town on vacation, then cancel that key when the job is done. The SmartKey comes with two keys and a specially shaped “Learn Tool.”

Rekeying a key takes only three steps:
1. Insert a functioning key and turn it clockwise.

2. Insert the Learn Tool into the slot above the key to reset the lock mechanism, then remove the tool and key.

3. Insert the new key and turn it counterclockwise. (See how the SmartKey works.)

Kwikset claims SmartKey locks also prevents lock bumping—a technique where thieves use filed-down keys to jiggle the pins and turn the cylinder—by replacing the usual pin and tumbler design with side-locking bars. Note that we don’t know how SmartKey locks will perform in a kick-in attempt, the most common variety of forced entry

Finishes include antique bronze and rustic pewter, among others. Dead bolts, lever locks, and knob locks cost about $30 and handleset locks about $120. Additional keys cost about $1.70; rekey sets from KwikSet include six keys for about $10, saving you the hassle of changing locks for security if someone loses or doesn’t return a key. SmartKey locks are sold at home centers and hardware stores nationwide.—Kimberly Janeway

Essential information: Read our expert advice to make your doors secure and these reports on entry doors and door locks.