A licensed private investigator (PI) recently warned homebuyers to avoid a common mistake many new homeowners make.
Cassie Crofts, who runs Venus Investigations in Australia, specializes in pre-date background checks, investigating potential stalkers, and catching unfaithful partners.
She frequently posts videos on social media, sharing tips and tricks to help her followers stay safe.
Highlights
- A private investigator warned new homebuyers not to post a particular type of photo after the purchase.
- This social media blunder could pose a risk to residents even if important texts are covered.
- Even though break-ins have declined in recent years, they still occur every 26 seconds in the U.S.
In a video posted on Instagram on May 22, she warned homeowners to avoid the social media trend of sharing a post-purchase snap.
A PI urged new homebuyers not to share this one detail on social media
Image credits: venus_investigations/Instagram
Cassie Crofts, who splits her time between NSW and Queensland, urged people not to post a picture with the sign in front of the house after buying it.
This could reveal important clues to anyone with malicious intent and make it easier for them to track down the person.
“If you're buying a house, you need to hear this,” she started in the video.
“I know you think it's safe to post your sold sign after taking out the address, but all someone like me or someone more nefarious needs to know is your real estate agent,” she said.
Image credits: Freepik (Not the actual image)
“They can go to the website, look at recently sold houses, and figure out which one yours is from the pictures,” she added.
She suggested that it was very easy to match real photos with images on listing websites and narrow down to an address.
Among Croft’s other videos on her social media platform is also a warning to employees who work from home.
In the clip, she claimed a company reached out to her to conduct surveillance of its remote workers to see whether they were doing anything else on the clock. She said she didn’t take the case.
The “SOLD” sign can give away a home’s address even if all text is removed
Image credits: Kindel Media/Pexels (Not the actual image)
Even if someone does not go to all that trouble, it is fairly easy to find information, even if the poster removes any text that might give away the home address, according to a Daily Mail report.
“I bought my first home, and I used an app to erase all the texts from the 'sold' sign in my photo — including the address and the real estate agent's contact details,” a homeowner told the outlet in early June.
“I shared it on my Instagram and didn't think anything of it.”
Image credits: cottonbro studio/Pexels (Not the actual image)
“A year later, a friend told me she was able to find my address and how much I paid for the house in seconds because the QR code on my sign was still active,” she revealed. “I immediately took the photo down.”
Zebra Insurance reported that, according to a Federal Bureau of Investigation report, a break-in occurs every 26 seconds in the U.S., even as residential burglaries continued their downward trend, with reports decreasing by 19% in the first 6 months of 2025.
The U.K. government’s 2026 factsheet revealed that 2.9% of adults aged 16 and over experience stalking. By September 2025, the police recorded 141,645 stalking offenses, a 6.7% increase over 2024.
Vacation photos on social media might also endanger homes
Image credits: krakenimages.com/Freepik (Not the actual image)
Some other social media mistakes can also put homeowners at risk.
In 2022, a survey by Allstate Canada found that one in three Canadians who were active on social media posted about their vacations before or during a trip, which, according to experts, could become dangerous.
The survey also showed that a fifth of those aged 18 to 34 prioritize social media sharing over home security.
“People post the exact dates of their vacation, and so obviously that makes it a lot fewer steps and a lot easier for the criminal,” said Allstate Canada’s Melissa Marquis. “It wouldn’t take very long from that first post for someone to find out exactly where you live and arrive at your house.”
Chris Gunn, a Royal Canadian Mounted Police representative, told CTV News at the time that investing in a home security system and requesting a trusted friend, relative, or neighbor to stop by occasionally is a good safety measure.
However, he suggested it is always ideal not to post vacation photos while the home is empty.
"I never film anything outside of the house", a netizen chimed in
