ROANOKE, Va. – As thousands get ready to travel this Memorial Day weekend for the unofficial start to summer, the Better Business Bureau is reminding you to take steps to protect your home while you're gone.
If you're going out of town, the BBB advises stopping your newspaper service or getting a neighbor to pick them up for you.
There are also many apps that allow you to control lights or the television from your phone to make it look like you're home.
"Be careful what you post on social media. Don't post while you're away. We think, ‘Oh yeah, let me show everybody what a great time I’m having.’ Wait till you get home to do that because you put that out there that you're in Bora Bora, everybody knows, ‘Well, they're not at home right now, so let's go rob their house,’" Julie Wheeler, president and CEO of the BBB Serving Western Virginia, said.
You should also keep hedges and bushes around your home trimmed so burglars don't have a place to hide.