Burglars select their targets based on Facebook updates; Facebook denies link
About to announce a long vacation or out-of-town trip to all your friends on social networking site Facebook? Well, you might want to hold that status update or tweet and read this first. According to a news report, three men in New Hampshire were arrested for burglarizing "more than 18 homes" in that area by targeting homes when their owners are out.
Specifically, they looked out for local residents that detailed upcoming travel plans. The men then proceeded to pillage the empty houses, and have allegedly taken from $100,000 to $200,000 of stolen property. They were arrested upon the discovery of unique fireworks that was stolen and found in their possession.
Facebook has denied any link to the burglaries, and said it has contacted local police and confirmed that only one of the burglars was a Facebook "friend" of his victim. While I do not doubt Facebook's assertion here, I probably won't be detailing my travel plans any time soon.
Also, my thinking is that it would not have been difficult for the burglars to create a separate account, specifically for befriending their potential victims.
For more on this story:
- check out this article at New York Times
- check out this article at PCMag
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