This morning somebody called our house, asking about the sale price of our 3 bedroom house. I replied that they must have called the wrong number as our house is not for sale, and the reply was "Oh, you mean you are not moving overseas?".
As a matter of fact, me and my family are leaving soon for a trip overseas, thus the anonymous caller must have gathered this information somewhere. When I tried to call the number shown on the caller ID to inquire further, I found that it was a disconnected number, and thus the caller must have faked its own line's caller ID (it can be done by any trained phone engineer).
Thank God a family friend will be housesitting for us while we'll be gone, but since I have suffered burglaries before, and know for a fact that burglars don't hit at random but case their targets by gathering info on homeowners going away for trips or picnics in order to plan ahead. This phone call could have been an innocent mistake but could as well been dialed by somebody trying to find out when we'll be gone and for how long.
Therefore I advise anybody receiving a call by somebody unknown trying to start a conversation and casually asking about dates and times of your trip to keep that information for yourself, in order to avoid bad surprises upon your return.
You can also notify your local SDPD substation of your absence, so they can inform officers patrolling your area.
