Your old real estate listing photos are still online. And burglars know it.

After a home sells, the interior photos typically stay indexed on Zillow, Redfin, and realtor.com for years. This includes floor plans, entry points, window placements, and camera locations.

A Chilean theft ring used this exact tactic to case the homes of NFL players including Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce, timing break-ins around game schedules.

The FBI released a specific warning about this in February 2025. The fix isn't complicated, but most homeowners don't know to ask for it.

My latest piece walks through the full playbook these groups use, and the countermeasures for each stage.