A recent burglary ring baffled police until they noticed that most victims had broadcast their home vacancies to the world.
Police have arrested three men in connection with 18 home burglaries in the Nashua, New Hampshire area that are suspected to have chosen their targets based on Facebook updates. After the victims made it available to the public that they were leaving their homes through the social networking service, the burglars would break in and rob them in their absence.
The Nashua area saw 50 home burglaries in August, but police were having trouble connecting them together. After the arrests, police say they know for a fact that Facebook updates were part of the criteria the criminals used to choose their targets.
Luckily, the thieves stole a large amount of fireworks from one of their targets and police were told to keep their eyes (and ears) out for people setting them off. That’s just what the thieves did, with an off-duty police officer hearing the noise and investigating, which reportedly led to the pinching of the three burglars. Police recovered between $100,000 to $200,000 of stolen goods thanks to the arrests, including ammunition, videogame consoles, and jewelry (but there was surprisingly no meth lab found).
It doesn’t end here, as police expect to arrest even more individuals with an involvement in the burglary ring. Police Captain Ron Dickerson warns: “Be careful of what you post on these social networking sites.”
Social networking is definitely a double edged sword. It’s fun to rub it in all of your friend’s faces that you’re going on vacation, but this could also lead to an easily burgled home.
Source: WMUR
