JOSIE Bowers was only 15 years old when she noticed a long thin metal wire poking underneath the door of her hotel room.
Four years on, the now-19-year-old has warned women to always bolt their doors after this contraption allowed a man to break into the room while her parents were out.
Earlier this month, Josie, from Ontario, Canada, responded to a video doing the rounds on TikTok where a man was able to unlock a door from the outside with a piece of wire.
She explained: "I actually had this happen to me before when I was on vacation.
"I was staying at Ocean City [...] and I went to go shower while the rest of my family were still down at the beach."
Moments before getting in the shower, Josie heard weird noises coming from the door which is when she spotted the contraption working its way up the door handle.
Before she had time to process what was happening, the door opened a fraction and she immediately slammed it shut.
In a follow-up video, Josie explained how she heard two men standing in the corridor who then decided to pose as hotel staff to get into the room again.
She said: "One of the guys went, 'Hello? Miss? We're from services - we came to fix your door.'"
As she was wearing nothing but a towel, Josie was still reluctant to let them in and feared they might have had weapons.
So to test if they were really hotel staff, she remembered a tip her police officer dad had given her if she ever feels unsafe.
Josie continued: "My stepdad is a police officer, he taught me never to let people know that you are alone.
"I yelled 'hey dad, there's someone here to fix the door'. As soon as they thought that I wasn't alone and that potentially my dad was there, they ran. They were gone."
Needless to say, Josie's videos struck a chord with viewers - and people were grateful for her advice.
Ok but the 'hey dad there's someone here' idea was brilliant," one replied. "You are very smart and I'm so glad you were okay!"
"Thank you for this video," another added. "From now on, I will be placing a rolled towel at the bottom of the door when I stay places."
Meanwhile, a third added: "That was great thinking babe, I'm glad you were able to think that fast and remember something you'd be taught."
Here is a device you can buy for when you travel. Put it in front the door as a door jam. As a friend said "light enough to travel, heavy enough to hit someone over the head with!"
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