Crime Reporter Reveals How Burglars Choose Which Homes to Target, and the One Mistake That Invites Them in
· Vice
Most people picture a break-in happening at 2 a.m., with a crowbar and a ski mask. The reality is actually way more mundane—and way more likely to happen while you’re at work.
Lori Fullbright covers crime for Tulsa’s News on 6 and has spent 31 years doing it, which means she has also spent 31 years interviewing the people on the other side of the door. Her recent TikTok on burglar tactics pulled hundreds of thousands of views, and the data behind it holds up. FBI 2024 figures put 53% of residential break-ins during daytime hours, and a survey of convicted burglars found nearly a third knocked first—posing as delivery drivers, landscapers, or someone who lost their dog.
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The method is simple. A burglar knocks, then listens. No footsteps, no TV, no voices—and in their read, the house is empty. “The vast majority of these burglars tell me they want to hit a house that’s empty,” Fullbright said. “They want to kick in your door when you’re gone, take all your stuff, and leave.”
The Burglary Trap Too Many People Fall for
Here’s the trap most people fall into: getting quiet and hoping whoever’s at the door goes away. To a burglar casing the place, silence confirms exactly what they were hoping to hear. Fullbright’s advice is the opposite—make noise, talk through the door, make it sound like the house is full. “Honey, get out of the shower, somebody’s at the door. Honey, stop loading the shotgun and feed the pit bulls,” she offered, only half joking. The point is to make someone’s presence known without opening the door.
If the noise works and the burglar knows someone’s home, most will move on. But if they stay, Fullbright says they’ll typically pivot to one of three cover stories designed to get a homeowner to open up. The first is asking for a person who doesn’t live there—a wrong-address play that sounds innocent and often gets the door opened out of politeness. The second is the lost dog story, which Fullbright suggests calling out directly. Her recommended response: “Haven’t seen your dog, move along.” The third is posing as a mover looking for a client’s address—easy enough to see through, she notes, since there’s no moving truck outside.
Fullbright warns that homeowners should be especially careful about anything that draws them outside, since “the vast majority of burglars want an empty house”—but the situation becomes significantly more dangerous when they find an occupied one instead. Ring cameras help, she adds, because they let homeowners respond to a knock without being physically present. A 2024 SafeHome.org survey found that 52% of households now own at least one security camera, and the Council on Criminal Justice reported residential burglaries fell 19% in the first half of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024—though whether to credit cameras, economic shifts, or both remains an open question.
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