What is Phrogging? How to detect if strangers are secretly living in your home

The term phrogging is derived from the actual word frogging - meaning an intruder who metaphorically hops from house to house. It is the situation or condition when someone secretly lives in another person’s home without their knowledge. Phrogging is a recently coined term and it increased during the pandemic.
While the cost of housing increased and inflation hit the economy after being struck by COVID, many who were unemployed had to resort to measures to keep a roof over their head. The National Alliance to End Homelessness in the US in 2022 last released data that nearly 582,000 people are homeless.


If the thought of breaking into your home and burglarizing is not scary enough, the idea of a person living and staying hidden in your house for a long period after breaking in is something close to a real-life horror movie.
Many phroggers occupy abandoned buildings or target vacation and beach houses that are rarely used by the rich owners. Phrogging is not new and there are even English movies that came following this idea a decade or two decades back, it is now going viral as the rise of social media and streaming platforms are now making it a trend. Phrogging is often discussed online and it is even talked about as a challenge given to some thrill seekers.


While you might be hearing weird noises or sounds or find some food missing - it is often perceived that the house is haunted and sometimes it might just be the signs of a phrogger present in your home. The very first step to see if your house is occupied by a stranger is to carefully listen for sounds at night - whether there is a creek sound of window or door, noises of low music, or muffled eating sound.
Following is a check of the things, furniture, or knick-knacks that are still in the same place you decorated. It might be too late to find that certain things from the house are missing frequently or misplaced often. Often it is food, clothes, and electronics that go missing which should increase the suspicion of phrogging.

Animals are very wary of their surroundings and they can easily detect new humans. If your dog barks mysteriously at the ceiling or at the empty yard, it might be because they sensed something - either a sight or a new smell. The pets always stay on alert giving the humans a signal that their house has been invaded. Make sure to check the surrounding spaces of your house like the garage, storage spaces, and pool area.

Apart from animals, surveillance cameras help to make sure that the houses aren't phrogged. If the camera only monitors the entrance, try to add more cameras in the places in the house that are rarely used spaces - like the back yard, the attic, especially the kitchen, as intruders are expected to use the room while in search of food.
Whilst the odds of burglary or phrogging are very slim in many houses - especially in the case of apartments, there are chances that the intruder has already settled in your house and importantly if you are returning home after a vacation. Make sure to carefully check the surroundings to see if there has been any forced entry.