Oakland County’s sheriff says home-invading teams have returned.

On Friday, Sheriff Mike Bouchard said detectives are investigating another round of residential break-ins across the county. He said it’s not clear if the new round is related to a previous rash of break-ins traced to Chilean suspects now facing charges, adding “the M.O. is super, super, super, super similar.”

Bouchard said earlier intelligence reports suggested at least 100 Chilean teams were operating across the county, but other states have traced some teams from Columbia and Venezuela who have used short-term rental homes or apartments as a base of operations and rotate in and out of various states or out of the country.

“It’s an on-going problem, not necessarily related to spring break or winter,” he said. “I think when their rotation gets back, they’re coming here because there are assets.”

Previous rounds of break-ins of high end homes in the county resulted in losses totaling about $1 million a month. Some victims included “names everybody would know,” he said, adding that deputies and municipal departments have increased neighborhood patrols.

Detectives are now looking for video from homes in neighborhoods that have had these burglaries.

He offered several tips for residents:

• Don’t advertise out-of-town trips. Post airport and vacation photos after returning home.

• Re-evaluate any security systems. “Up your game. A lot of these homes that were hit? The alarm was off,” he said, explaining that the break-in crews are equipped with electronic equipment that can jam wireless security systems. That won’t work for a hard-wired security set-up, he said, adding that it helps to have back-up security in case the primary set-up fails.

• Be aware of your surroundings. The teams will check out a neighborhood or house to plan a break-in. “Watch yourself, watch your home, watch your neighborhood. If you see something that’s unusual, don’t be afraid to call us or your local police,” he said. “We’d rather check out 1,000 nothings than miss out on the real deal.”

• Remove geospatial tags from your cell phone photos before sharing images online. “If you don’t have those tags turned off, you can determine where that picture was taken and at what time,” he said. “Everything you put out on the internet? It’s not just your family and friends looking at it.”

• Teach children not to share personal information online, he said.

• Call 911 or a non-emergency number for police to report suspicious activity, he said.