• Do carry a personal alarm with you – many men see these as female accessories and somehow not macho. But figures show that male students stand a much higher risk of been attacked in the street.
• Do try to avoid walking home on your own in the dark and make sure you are familiar with any late night transport provided. Keep to well-lit and busy streets, avoid pedestrian underpasses, and use designated safe walking routes where available.
• Do be aware of people crowding around you when using a cash machine and preferably draw out money during the day.
• Do be suspicious of e-mails or phone calls requesting too much personal information and destroy papers carrying bank or credit card details. Identity theft is on the increase.
• Do keep a record somewhere safe of plastic card details and the serial and model numbers of your expensive electrical equipment.
• Do mark your possessions with a UV pen – your student registration number plus the initials of your university is a unique number.
• Do remember dialling *#06# will give you your unique mobile registration (IMEI) number. Make a note and register it at www.immobilise.com. If your phone is then lost or stolen, a quick call to the immobilise hotline (08701 123 123) will result in your handset being blocked on all the networks. Mobiles are by far the most popular items stolen from young people.
• Do try to avoid using your mobile in isolated places. Texting can distract you from what is happening around you. When you are out and about switch your mobile to vibrate mode rather than a ring tone.
• Do consider installing security software on your laptop and always carry it hidden inside a sports bag rather than in its own obvious case. Nowadays, university IT and learning centres are open around the clock and many students could be leaving these places in the middle of the night.
• Do make sure the outside doors are fitted with a “Yale” type lock and five lever mortise deadlock. Fit any vulnerable downstairs windows with key-operated locks. Students in private housing are twice as likely to be burgled than those in halls of residence, not least because their accommodation is often unoccupied for long periods of the day and night. You can give the impression of being at home by using timer switches on lights and radios.
• Do immobilise your car or lock your bike whenever you leave it even for a few minutes. Think about where you park. Stealing from vehicles is still a major problem and you should routinely remove your stereo and sat nav (hot property!) and store it in a safe place.
• Do have adequate personal belongings insurance – over half the students who fall prey to burglars are not insured.
• Do consider secure storage for expensive items if you are leaving these over the vacations. International students might find this service particularly helpful.
• Do get hold of your own free copy of the Student Survival Guide from www.good2bsecure.gov.uk or by phoning 0870 241 4680 quoting reference SSG.
None of these simple precautions will cost you much in time or money. In fact, you will find that many universities or their students’ unions, often working closely with the local police, distribute personal alarms, UV pens, etc, to new students. Many of the other items mentioned are not expensive so could be added to the birthday presents list! Don’t act after the event when you or one of your friends has had something stolen. Imagine how you would feel if weeks of work on your lap-top was lost for ever – we all know of situations where that has actually happened. Better to be safe than sorry?
