Private investigator shares 10 life-saving tips that you should definitely know

Personal safety should be taken seriously. It is critical to take the necessary safeguards to protect yourself, especially in the digital age where we volunteer so much information to social media. According to a new Ipsos research, 84% of questioned Americans are concerned about their internet safety. However, just 63% routinely check their accounts to assure this. Taking steps to create online security is just as vital as looking after oneself in public. In addition, it is critical to adequately defend your home. Private detective @jadeesavv is a TikTok user who combines her passions for both makeup and crime-solving. In a handful of her most recent uploads, she offers advice on maintaining personal safety, including the right use of social media profiles and the use of effective door barriers.

Jade makes advantage of the venue to educate her followers about safety. Her TikTok account has about 95k followers. Below are some of the most useful tips we came across:

1. Stop tagging yourself in places when you're still there

Save the photo or the video, and ,post it after you've left. I can't explain how many times I've been sitting outside of somebody's house. I can't figure out why they're not there. Where are they at? Go to Instagram. They've tagged themselves at the café across the street, and sure enough, there they are. It's not safe to do. When you are out, stop leaving a footprint where people can find you. Piggybacking off of that, don't tag places that you frequent. Don't tag your gym, don't tag the coffee shop that you go to every Tuesday at 2:00 PM. People can start understanding your patterns and your habits, and that's not good. You don't want people who don't know you to start to know you.

2. Stop posting where you work on Facebook

Your aunt doesn't need to know you just got hired at the bank. Just call her and tell her that. If you're out at the bar and somebody thinks you're really cute, they find out your name, they find your social media, they don't know your address, but they know where you work. Now they can sit outside of your work and wait for you to come out. They can lurk in the distance and they can follow you home. And now they do know where you live.

3. Don't forget to lock your windows

We have a tendency to open our windows and then we'll close them and walk away. We forget to lock them.

4. Flashlight Zapper 

For my girlies, anything that looks inconspicuous but can be used as a weapon, I absolutely love it. This looks like a glittery lipstick tube, but it actually has a flashlight and a little zapper. It's multipurpose and it's great because it's inconspicuous and nobody would really know you had it on you. And I know that not everybody in every state is allowed to have these, but if you are, these are great to have.

5. Door stopper

I saw some comments saying, "I don't have a lock on my garage door" or "I'm a college student, what do you suggest for safety?" A tool like this is great. Essentially it's a doorstopper. You put it underneath the doorknob, and if somebody tries to open the door, it stops the door and doesn't allow anybody in. This is great even if you have a lock on your door. I love to use these on my front door as well because you can never be too careful in this world. Here's a little diagram on how it works. You can see it has a stopper and it's sitting underneath the doorknob so nobody can open the door.

6. When you're going outta town for a week, don't post about it on social media

Don't tell the internet that your house is gonna be unsupervised for seven whole days while you're on vacation. It's very much giving Home Alone. It's very much giving McCauley Culkin. You're giving people an invitation to break into your home.

7. Don't look down at your phone while walking through a parking lot

Please, please, please make sure that you're aware of your surroundings. That's so, so important, especially when you're in big parking lots like a mall or Target or something like that. Always make sure that you have both hands free and just don't be distracted when you're in a parking lot. If you ever feel like someone is following you, drive straight to the police station. Don't go near your neighborhood. Don't go to your mom's house. Go straight to the police station. It'll spook whoever's following you, and if not, at least you're at the police.

8. Stop posting your kids' school online

Just in general, it's not safe. But piggybacking off of what I just said, if I've gone to your work and you're not there, and I know that you pick up your kid from school and I know where your kid goes to school, my next stop is your kid's school. You're quite literally leaving a footprint, a pattern on the internet for people to find you and your kids.

9. A door wedge

 These are perfect for if you're traveling, especially if you're a female traveling alone. It has an alarm on it. So, you wedge it in the door. If somebody opens the door, the pedal goes down and sets an alarm off. You're alarmed that somebody is trying to enter the hotel room or the Airbnb that you're in, or your home. And these are absolutely great, you can buy these in packs of like 2, 4, or whatever. 

10. Close your garage door

We all do it at some time. You quickly pull up to the house, activate the garage door opener, park, and then dash inside to deal with an emergency. The garage door may need to be opened while the kids are outside playing so they may pull their toys out and then put them away. In any event, you decide to leave the garage door open while you sleep. You realize it's not a big issue. Actually, it is a bigger deal than you might realize.