You are followed home, do you have a plan?

WE often read about people being followed home from shopping centres, schools and airports, and one may think that it is something that only happens to other people, and not them.

However, while it is easy to get complacent, what do you do in the event that you are being followed? Do you have an emergency plan if it happens to you?

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Charnel Hattingh, group head of marketing and communication at Fidelity Services Group, said it is important to know what to look out for.

“These days criminals are professional at what they do, you will probably not even realise that you are being followed,” she said.

Hattingh offers some of the signs to look out for.

• Remember, you need to be alert at all times and never get distracted with cell phones or children in the car. Regularly check the rear view mirror and area around you as soon as you stop at a stop street or traffic light for any suspicious vehicles. There could be more people involved than just the ones following you. Technology has made it possible for multiple people to communicate and talk to each other about your moves.
• If the one stops following you, another may just take over, so don’t let your guard down and get distracted.
• They will probably drive past you a few times, change lanes and fall back again when you least expect it.

Now, what do you do once established that you are being followed?

• Make sure you have an emergency number on your phone, you need to know who you want to phone in an emergency and dial that number immediately. If possible, let somebody know that you are being followed and try to give them as much information as possible. Ask them to alert 10111.
• Try to keep as calm as possible and say focused on getting to a safe place
• Do not try to communicate with the driver in that vehicle in any way
• Slow down –  it is harder to follow somebody if they drive slow, but just keep moving
• Turn your radio down so you are fully aware of your surroundings.
• Put you headlights on bright and put your hazards on, day or night. You want to attract as much attention as possible and scare away the would-be hijackers.
• Do not go home – don’t show them where you live
• Head for a busy place, such as 24-hour garages, hospitals or police stations, some place where it is more difficult to follow you in and where there may be surveillance cameras.

“At the end of the day, staying alert is probably the most important tip. Too often we are distracted which makes us vulnerable to criminal activity,” said Hattingh.

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