So first a bit of background: I am currently living with my parents in the home they’ve resided in for 30+ years. The home is located in an affluent residential neighbourhood of Toronto. The residents of the street are mostly doctors, lawyers, judges etc. There are relatively few homes on the street and all the residents have been there for quite some time (so we know them all).
Recently, we’ve started noticing vehicles (at first it was an inexpensive sports car, now that has been replaced by a different out-of-place car) idling opposite our house late at night on thursdays. Always after midnight.
This is highly unusual for this quiet little street. And the cars seem to be present for no apparent reason.
My mom thought it was sufficiently odd that the first time it happened she called the cops to report suspicious activity. They came and had a word with the driver who then left without incident (the police didn’t report back to us).
Tonight, for the third or forth (I think once a family member noticed them not on a thurs) time there was a out-of-place vehicle idling in front of our house late on thursday night. I would stress that this is a very quiet street and on normal nights there just are never cars idling late at night, it is highly highly unusual.
This time, I discreetly took some photos and got the plate. After a few min of my being present (in my car) they drove off.
According to Occam’s razor these were probably all just a funny set of coincidences and there is nothing going on here. But on the off chance that isn’t the case, I would love to hear your opinions of what type of known activity this pattern might most likely represent (private investor? something else?)
Is there a house for sale near you? Could they be checking out the neighborhood to see what it’s like after realtor showing hours? I know I’ve done that before, taken a book and some dinner and sat in my vehicle near the house I’m interested in buying, just to see how noisy the neighborhood is. It is kind of odd that they sit in front of your house each time though.
No homes for sale in the immediate vicinity (on this street). Also midnight or 1AM seem to me to be a bit late for that sort of activity. Still an interesting theory, thanks!
Can you see what the driver is doing? Could be someone who works an evening shift pulling over to make a phone call on his way home. Maybe it’s an unlicensed cab filling out some end-of-the-day paperwork (unlikely for a sports car, though). I’ve been known to hit a late-night, fast-foo drive-through and find a place to stop and eat before the food gets cold.
Could they possibly be Ingress players farming a portal near your house? It’s fairly common for a lot of players to go out late at night since there’s less traffic, and to idle in a place for 10-15 minutes or so in order to get as much gear as possible from a portal before it “burns out”.
Portals are usually located on or around man-made objects of cultural/historical importance - so if there’s a park in your immediate vicinity, or a church, historical marker, historical house, etc. it could very well be a portal.
Almost certainly someone who has an knowing enragement on Thursdays, and pulls over someplace quiet for a few minutes to eat, make a phone call, smoke a cigarette, etc.
Since they’re still there after the cops came, I’d say it’s unlikely that they’re casing your house, or identity-thefting the neighbors through their wifi. If so, balls of titanium, and you may as well just leave your house unlocked for them.
I’m seconding that they’re just USING an open/unsecure wifi network - if they’re driving not-so-nice cars, there’s a chance they don’t have internet of their own any more, and they’ve found a nice quiet spot with a security-clueless homeowner, and they’re sponging off his wifi.
It’s a perfect time to do that, because if they do it during the evening, someone who isn’t smart enough to know to secure their network MIGHT be smart enough to notice the drag on the bandwidth, and if they idle around during the day, they are more likely to be harassed by dog-walkers, retired seniors, and less-than-school-aged kids with their caregivers.
Much later than about 1, police start to get antsy about people not being where they ought to be, but midnight to 1ish is early enough that they’ll buy someone stopping for a quick text or an internet check without necessarily being nefarious.
WiFi stealers. They can download porn, including kiddie porn, and if traced, it’s the fool with an unsecured wi-fi that gets blamed. As others mentioned, see if there are any wifi hotspots which aren’t secured or only secured with WEP which is easy to break. You’d be doing the wifi owner a favor by pointing this out.
As far as a certain night and time, maybe their wife is working or has bowling that night.
I would occassionaly look for a hot spot where I could go online with my lap top. They may have found one on your street. I never signed up for the wifi because I used it so seldom outside of the coffee shop I normaly used it at.
I suggest you get one of those really bright flashlights [something like this] from Academy or other outdoor/hunting/camping store and when they pull up in front of your house, shine it at them. Every time you see them. If anyone says anything, say you come out every night to look for your cat.
If you don’t want to go down and ask them why they keep parking in front of your house at night, call the police again and let them know you’re going to keep calling until you know what’s going on and feel safe.