By Yasemin Talat
Police are warning residents over the dangers of meeting people online following a home invasion in Balliang last week.
Moorabool crime investigation unit detectives are seeking a man who last Tuesday broke into the home of a woman he met online.
They believe the victim agreed to meet him at her home on Macarthurs Road about
11pm.
The pair met, but their meeting was cut short when the woman received a text message that prompted her to leave her home.
The pair drove off from the property in different directions.
As she drove, the woman noticed the man turn around and drive back to her home. She found his car parked at the rear of the house. After going inside, she found he had used a window to enter the house.
Nothing was stolen and the woman was unharmed.
The man is described as southern European in appearance, of thin build, aged in his late 20s to early 30s and about 165 centimetres tall with short, dark hair.
He was wearing a black T-shirt and driving a late-model silver Mercedes-Benz sedan.
Bacchus Marsh senior sergeant Edward Lappin is urging residents to exercise care when meeting people and sharing information online.
“We need to be diligent when we open our lives up to people on the internet,” Senior Sergeant Lappin said.
He said incidents could be prevented if people were less forthright with their personal information.
“[People need to] hold some information to themselves until they get a greater understanding of the people they’re meeting,” he said.
“It’s something we have to do a lot better because social media and the efficiencies of it are here to stay.”
Senior Sergeant Lappin warned people to be careful when transitioning from an online relationship to personal interaction, and to assess people’s character accordingly.
He reminded residents they could use the website ACORN, Australian Cybercrime Online Reporting Network, to report online crimes.
Anyone with information about the burglary is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on
1800 333 000 or submit a confidential report to www.crimestoppersvic.com.au.
