Date: 6/1/25 2:17 pm From: Sue Jorgenson via groups.io <lilithm...> Subject: Re: [OrangeCountyBirding] Bolsa Chica Car Break-ins
Excellent tip, Bob. I keep both in a stiff folding holder, one side for each card. Kind of like a miniature folder. Easy to put in purse or backpack, available on Amazon.
Regarding Crystal Cove, where did the break ins happen? Los Trancos lot, Reef Point lot or…? I always park at Reef Point and I’ve been lucky. Kept an eye out when I arrived at 8:30 and the rangers were patrolling while removing overnight trash. Left at 10:30.
Sue Jorgenson
Fullerton
---------- Original Message ----------
From: "bugbob via groups.io" <bugbob...>
To: Orange County Birding <orangecountybirding...>
Subject: Re: [OrangeCountyBirding] Bolsa Chica Car Break-ins
Date: Sun, 1 Jun 2025 06:20:09 -0700
Awful, awful, awful!
I’ll add a tip I learned from law enforcement. Not only take your wallet, purse, identification items, etc. But also take your car’s registration and insurance documents. Thieves can falsify your insurance to be “theirs” and get your home address (they needn’t follow you if they have the address).
Empty your car of all belongings. Even though we did that, the car was still broken into (smashed a window, leaving broken glass on the nearby seat). We had left the glove box closed with only the owner’s manual inside and that is what they stole! So also empty the glove box and leave it open so it can be seen from outside the car.
Cheers,
Bob AllenMission Viejo
On May 31, 2025, at 5:42 PM, Ellen Tipping via groups.io <ellen.tipping88...> wrote:Exactly what Sandrine describes happened to me last year at HCP-West. But I started getting text-fraud alerts from my bank and credit companies within 15 minutes of starting my birding there. The culprits attempted charges on each card to an alleged merchant in Santiago Chile and I responded right away to the fraud alerts from my banks to confirm the charges were fraudulent. However, I found my purse and wallet were still in the car and had no idea the thieves had just removed the cards from my wallet until I was home contacting the companies for new cards. I had assumed some online data breach. The lesson learned was that these are highly-organized teams, they do lie in wait watching for folks who leave something in their trunk (women who bird are good targets as we have purses) and they can move very fast once we leave our cars. Since then I always carry my wallet on me when birding and will not be observed leaving something in the trunk.
Ellen TippingIrvine
On May 31, 2025, at 4:43 PM, Sandrine Biziaux via groups.io <sbiziaux...> wrote:
Thanks Trude. I will add be careful when you go to Crystal Cove too. I was there in january with 2 friends and our cars were broken into, all our credit/debit cards stolen (not the purses or the wallets though) just the cards and within minutes they spent worth of $30K with all our cards at dpt stores in South Coast Plaza. I suspect the RV parked there was the culprit, the guy was at the wheel doing nothing but looking at people parking and putting their purses inside their cars trunks. We were stupid enough to do it in plain sight. Fortunately we were reimbursed by our banks. The rangers at CC were informed and I was told they had a meeting to talk about the incident but no measure was taken that I know of. My car was broken into twice at CC and once at Bolsa Chica (nothing to steal in my car that time but 500$ to change the car's lock everytime).It's really a pity that we can't go to these places anymore and that authorities are so slow to intervene when this has been going on for years.
SandrineIrvine
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On Saturday, May 31, 2025 at 09:38:48 AM PDT, Trude Hurd via groups.io <trudehurd...> wrote:
Good advice for a sad situation. I would add one more warning for wildlife photographers: be aware of cars following you as you leave as you may be followed. We made a stop in Huntington Beach after leaving Bolsa Chica, and our car trunk was broken into and we lost over $12K in camera gear. We were targeted and followed, but glad it did not turn into a home invasion. We're now alert especially to single men talking on their cell phone on the footbridge and anyone asking us about our camera gear (if asked how much it cost; we'll say "it's a really old model and not worth much"). Trude HurdLake Forest
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Trude Hurd
Lake Forest
