What a lock block.
Social media users were horrified after learning the potentially sinister reason why doors might have strips of tape obstructing the keyhole.
The truth behind the so-called “sticky tape trick” was seemingly disclosed in a thread currently on the forum Quora.
“Why is it a bad sign if you find a piece of transparent tape stuck on the lock of your front door?” the unidentified poster inquired in the thread.
This stick-key situation might seem like some innocuous prank by mischievous kids; however, many commenters speculated that it’s a nefarious tactic used by burglars to scope houses they are planning to rob.
“It’s a trick used by thieves,” postulated one armchair security expert, alongside a pic of a taped-over keyhole. “They place a piece of adhesive tape on the lock of a house or apartment and return a day (or more) later to see if the tape is still intact.”
They added: “If the tape is not punctured or has not been removed, there is nobody in the premises. And thus, it is possible to steal without being disturbed…”
By a similar token, one commenter surmised that the sticky trick is a form of adhesive surveillance that’s used to “capture fingerprints or as a makeshift sensor to detect when the lock is being operated.”
Along with “tape recording” a homeowner’s habits, others theorized that sealing a keyhole was a way for burglars to distract potential victims while they ambushed them.
“This may be done by criminals & [the] keyholder can be a target,” posited one poster. “Tape will take few seconds to remove which can give criminal time to attack or overpower from behind.”
Others theorized that sealing keyholes is a way for criminals to “paint” the target by denoting that a lock has been compromised and is, therefore, susceptible to entry.
The same commenter added that transparent tape could be used for “lock picking.”
“By placing tape on the lock, an intruder may be trying to gather information about the lock’s mechanism or create a template for future attempts,” they declared.
Of course, not every explanation was so insidious.
Many commenters suggested that the tape could be left by Jehovah’s Witnesses to alert fellow members as to which houses have been hit or are occupied.
Meanwhile, one cheeky commenter asserted that the sticky bandit theory was a myth and that it was actually the handiwork of pranksters “who read about it on the internet” and are “trying to wind you up / annoy you.”
It appeared that the adhesive recon explanation seemed the most plausible.
Following an incident of keyhole taping in Queens in 2014, home security expert Dan Coleman released a statement in which he claimed: “They [burglars] might put a UPS or a FedEx sticker on the door of a house and come back a day or two later to see if it’s been removed.”
If the adhesive is still there, they know the house is ripe for pilfering, per the expert, who at the time warned that the phenomenon is becoming increasingly common.
In 2018, authorities in Dublin, Ireland, released a warning of a spate of door-taping incidents in the city.
They advised residents to remove any visible adhesive and pledged to ramp up police patrols in the region to stop the sticky tricksters.