Protecting Property

Lock your dorm or apartment door, even when you're home. Lock your car. Lock your bike. When you are working out at the Student Recreation Center, use a locker with a lock.

Don't bring fine jewelry, heirlooms, or expensive clothing to school. During school breaks, take your valuables, including computers, televisions, and gaming systems home with you.

Employees should lock purses and other valuables in a cabinet or drawer even if they're only going to be away from the office for a few minutes.

Theft of backpacks and textbooks is surprisingly common due to the resale value of textbooks.

Never leave your property unattended in a library, dining hall, classroom, recreation facility, or restroom. Take your things with you or have a friend watch them. Make sure to clearly mark your property so you can identify it as being yours if it is stolen and retrieved.

Never leave your smartphone. tablet or laptop unattended.

It is also wise to require a password or encryption process to protect the data on your smartphone, tablet or laptop.

Laundry rooms are located in University residence halls for the convenience of students who live there. However, each year, articles of clothing are stolen from these laundry rooms.

• Don't bring expensive clothing to campus. Clothing that costs a lot is more enticing to thieves.
• Write your name or initials on the tags on your clothing.
• Use a lockable laundry bag.
• Do not leave your laundry unattended while it's running.
• If you must leave the laundry room, only leave your clothes unattended for short periods. Most clothing is stolen when the owner leaves it in the laundry room for an extended period after it's finished.
• Consider asking a trusted friend to keep an eye on your laundry if you need to step away.
• As soon as you realize any of your clothing has been stolen from a University laundry room, report it to UAPD at 205-348-5454.

In addition to laundry rooms, athletic clothing is commonly stolen from the Student Recreation Center. When visiting the Recreation Center, use a locker with a lock. Don't leave clothing, especially expensive athletic shoes, unattended.

Bicycles, scooters and skateboards are stolen each semester and most are never recovered.

The following measures can help protect your bicycle:

• Register your bicycle with the University.
• Remember where you parked your bike. Always try to park in at the same bicycle racks each time you park so you won't lose your bike.
• Secure your bike properly to a bicycle rack. Thieves don’t merely steal whole bikes; often they’ll take the front tire from one bike and the rest from another.
• Secure your front tire and frame to the bicycle rack.
• Use a second locking device to lock your rear tire to the bicycle frame.
• If it’s easily removable, take your seat with you.
• Engrave all parts of your bike — handlebars, seat, both wheels, frame — with identifying letters or numbers.
• If you don't plan on riding your bike daily, make sure you check on it occasionally to see that it hasn't been stolen.
• Make sure to secure scooters to bicycle racks with locking devices. Scooters are not allowed inside University buildings.
• Carry skateboards in a backpack.

Don’t carry a lot of credit/debit cards in your wallet or purse. Carry just one or two and leave the others in a secure place at home.

If your credit/debit cards are stolen, know what cards you had and the phone numbers to call to cancel the cards and report them as stolen.

Usually, a thief will use your stolen cards in less than an hour. Use a banking app to see fraudulent charges. Check your statement every month to make sure there are no unauthorized charges.

Your Bama Cash account is associated with your ACT Card and CWID. Anyone who has access to your ACT Card and/or CWID can make a purchase using your Bama Cash.

It's common for thieves to use a student's CWID to make purchases at fast-food restaurants, especially at pizza restaurants, that accept payment over the phone without seeing the actual ACT Card.

• Never tell anyone your CWID.
• Check the eAccounts website often to see your Bama Cash transaction history.
• As soon as you realize that a thief has used your CWID to purchase something, contact UAPD at 205-348-5454.

• Theft of documents can be the first step in an identity theft crime. Keep documents with personal information secure at all times.
• Don’t carry your Social Security card in your wallet; keep it in a safe place.
• When discarding unwanted mail, shred sensitive or personal information with a shredder or by hand.
• Make sure you are on the national “do not call” list.
• Adopt a “need to know” attitude about personal data. Your credit card company may need to know your mother’s maiden name so that it can verify your identity when you call to inquire about your account. A person who calls you and says he’s from your bank or credit card company doesn’t need to know that information if it’s already on file with your bank. Make callers give you what information they have on file. If you still don’t feel comfortable, get the caller’s name and return the call to a phone number you know is associated with the valid company.
• Don't print a lot of information on your personal bank checks.
• Check your monthly financial statements carefully to find out if someone has made unauthorized debits or charges against your accounts.
• Periodically, check your credit report. Make sure all active accounts were actually opened by you.
• Email schemes called “phishing,” attempt to trick you into disclosing sensitive information. The email appears to come from companies with whom you may regularly do business (e.g., Paypal, eBay, a financial institution or a credit card company). Many of these email schemes contain links to look-a-like websites loaded with actual trademarked images. The sender asks you to confirm your personal information for some made-up reason: your account is about to be closed, or your information has been lost because of a computer problem. The sender instructs you to “re-enter” credit card numbers, Social Security numbers, bank PINs or other personal information. If you provide the information requested, the data goes to scammers. This data is often used to order goods or services or to obtain a credit card in your name.

For more information on cybersecurity visit the Office of Information Technology website.

Each year thieves break into vehicles and steal purses, sports equipment, clothing, smartphones, laptops, stereo equipment, etc. To reduce the risk of theft from your vehicle:

• Keep valuable items out of sight.
• Never leave your vehicle running unattended, even if you're just planning to be gone from the vehicle for a short time.
• Always lock your doors and roll up your windows.
• Engrave your name on any items in your vehicle that might interest a thief.
• Always park in well-lit areas. If you see any suspicious activity in a parking lot, such as people who are loitering, report the activity to the police.