Is There Any Actual Proof A House Was Robbed Due To A Facebook Status Update?

from the somewhere?--anywhere? dept

Tue, Dec 28th 2010 7:47am — Mike Masnick

Back in September, we noted our skepticism of some police and press reports about burglars using Facebook to pick their targets. It makes for a good story, but it just seems like an incredibly inefficient way to go about things -- and even with certain Facebook status updates, you have no idea if that means everyone in the house is gone. It just seems a hell of a lot easier to use other methods. Yet, because it's online and police and the press love to jump to conclusions, we've now got another similar report -- this time by the BBC, involving police in the UK warning people that Facebook updates are a burglary risk. The evidence for this? A woman whose house was robbed thinks it's because her kids posted a Facebook update about how they were going to be out getting a dog that day. Actual evidence to support that? None. Did they catch the burglar and find out it was a Facebook friend? Nope. Did they even review the Facebook friends? Doesn't sound like it. So why does everyone jump to these conclusions?

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: evidence, moral panics, robberies, social networks

29 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

Anonymous Coward, 28 Dec 2010 @ 7:59am

Foursquare is just as bad
After I became mayor of the local Denny's, my car exploded.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- chris (profile), 28 Dec 2010 @ 9:12am
  
  Re: Foursquare is just as bad
  and you deserved it. for your wife's sake i hope you think twice about challenging my mayorship at starbucks.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Gabriel Tane (profile), 28 Dec 2010 @ 7:59am

Why jump to the conclusions?
BECAUSE THINK OF THE KIDS!!! THE KIDS!!!1!1

Sad when the 'shining example' America was supposed to set for the world moves from 'freedom and democracy' to 'idiocy and over reactive sensationalism'. If I keep having to drown my national identity in alcohol on a weekly basis, I might as well just stay in the bottle. :/
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Jason, 28 Dec 2010 @ 8:00am

ooo...
oooh, SHINY!!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Berenerd (profile), 28 Dec 2010 @ 9:59am
  
  Re: ooo...
  Squirrel!!!!
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
PaulT (profile), 28 Dec 2010 @ 8:00am

"Proof"? Probably not. Another excuse for a few years of scaremongering tabloid articles to be believed by groups of morons before the next scapegoat comes along? Absolutely,
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Tony, 28 Dec 2010 @ 8:03am

I don't know about Facebook status being a risk. I mean you should "know" most/all of your friends? Right? Maybe some of them at least?

But twitter, is even worse because it is public. Anyone can see your tweets. Than with people and their damn 4square updates.

In all honestly, I dont know if anyone has actually been robbed. However, I personally don't publicly tell the world where I live and when I am not home. It just seems like a bad idea.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 28 Dec 2010 @ 8:19am
  
  Re:
  you can protect your updates in Twitter and in turn not show up in the public timeline.
  
  all social network sites have private options.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Michael, 28 Dec 2010 @ 9:13am
    
    Re: Re:
    "all social network sites have private options."
    
    Bold statement. Have you researched EVERY social network site on the internet? I'm curious how long that took.
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - chris (profile), 28 Dec 2010 @ 9:14am
    
    Re: Re:
    you can protect your updates in Twitter and in turn not show up in the public timeline.
    
    all social network sites have private options.
    
    yeah, but that involves changing the settings from their defaults.
    
    it's hard you know, clicking. and thinking.
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
    - Anonymous Coward, 29 Dec 2010 @ 9:05am
      
      Re: Re: Re:
      It's also hard for said Social Network to actually keep that data "private." Once it's online, eventually, it'll get public. Don't ever assume that what FB and Twitter say is private will always be private.
      [ link to this | view in chronology ]
:Lobo Santo (profile), 28 Dec 2010 @ 8:06am

Y3K
So, there's this really good documentary film from the future (from after we'd surpassed the 'stupid ages') called "Idiocracy"

If you'd like to know the future, watch that film.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Skyhawker, 28 Dec 2010 @ 8:28am
  
  Re: Y3K
  Brilliant movie.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Chronno S. Trigger (profile), 28 Dec 2010 @ 8:29am
  
  Re: Y3K
  The first time I watched that movie it scared the crap out of me. I know it was just suppose to be funny, but I was horrified.
  
  My roommate says that it's not a prophetic movie but a view of the present in a Walmart (he worked there for over a year).
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Anonymous Coward, 28 Dec 2010 @ 12:59pm
    
    Re: Re: Y3K
    maybe there's a link...MAYBE there something in the air at Walmart that infects people with "stupid" and they over a period of time we get what is actually prophecy in Idiocracy
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous, 28 Dec 2010 @ 8:19am

You want proof?
I can verify that the answer to all your questions in your blog post is "yes." What more proof does anyone need than an anonymous blog comment?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Jeffry Houser (profile), 28 Dec 2010 @ 8:24am

One Sample
Everytime you post a story like this I'm reminded of this story:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/03/25/earlyshow/main6331796.shtml

Although I can't find an update that positively links FB to the theft.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Michael, 28 Dec 2010 @ 8:42am

Not usually random
Over 90% of burglaries on a residence are committed by someone who has been in the house before. Usually a "friend" or someone who has done work inside the house. Its far more likely they know the person who did it, than it being some random person from facebook.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 28 Dec 2010 @ 8:44am

Here is the "old fashioned version":

http://www.snopes.com/crime/intent/adthief.asp

Anyone with an open Facebook profile could be at risk.

Anyone who uses something like foursquare or tweets their locations on a regular basis could be at risk. Anyone who posts up images from an Iphone with the GPS information encoded (or uses a service that reveals that info) is at risk.

Big risk? Who knows. Risk. That is all.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Michael, 28 Dec 2010 @ 9:23am
  
  Re:
  That's the point. You have given a proven example of the method that works. Why are the police spouting out about criminals using Facebook to do this without any actual evidence that it has happened?
  
  Do you remember the same thing happening with answering machines when they first came out? Don't say "we're not home" on your message! People will come and rob your house! Say "we are not available"!
  
  There are better ways for criminals to research when someone will be home that does not put them on a list of potential suspects. Think about it - you have to friend someone on Facebook, find out where they live (assuming you don't already actually know them), watch for them to indicate that they and their entire family will be out, and then go rob their house as soon as you see it happen.
  
  A well-prepared burglar can ransack a house for everything worth taking in less than 10 minutes. They don't care where you have gone. They are not waiting for you to go on vacation so they can take their time.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Anonymous Coward, 28 Dec 2010 @ 11:36am
    
    Re: Re:
    Knowing that you are gone for a long time, or that you are currently at work far from home, adds to the potential to be a victim.
    
    Plenty of people post up images of their spendy bike, the expensive home computer, their sexy new home theater, and so on. All of these things make you a great target for potential theives, and thanks to GPS tagging, your facebook information, your blog, and all those other things, people can figure out where you live and pretty much waltz right in. Your profile says you are single, you are on a business trip to another city for 24 hours, and so on.
    
    Other people have cited examples in this thread. I was only citing an example of the old low tech way that this was done. Announcing that you are away is just making it easier for people to know when to come visit.
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 28 Dec 2010 @ 9:15am

I believe the most prominent case is from these 3 burglars in the New Hampshire area: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/12/burglars-picked-houses-based-on-facebook-updates/
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 28 Dec 2010 @ 9:34am

rehashing urban legends
I recall a warning not to tell the post office to hold your mail because that tipped off thieves to your extended abscence. Ask a neighbor to change your facebook status instead.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Chuck Norris' Enemy (deceased) (profile), 28 Dec 2010 @ 11:05am

Facts! Who cares!
Since when do facts matter when there is FUD to spread?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 28 Dec 2010 @ 11:25am

Okay, but the person not being home is just one part. What about neighbors or pets? Yeah, I found out someone is gone this afternoon but that won't help me too much if the folks next door eyeball me. You have to watch the joint to see the people and area.

Sounds like a bad A-Team pitch meeting, the Facebook gang.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Peet McKimmie (profile), 28 Dec 2010 @ 12:14pm

One thing that may be skewing the figures...
If someone *admits* they were burgled because of a Facebook update their insurance is unlikely to pay out.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- nasch (profile), 29 Dec 2010 @ 7:33am
  
  Re: One thing that may be skewing the figures...
  Did your insurance agent tell you that, or are you just guessing?
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- George Mair, 20 Jan 2011 @ 6:18am
  
  Re: One thing that may be skewing the figures...
  Peet, how are you? Long time no see, give me a shout if you happen to get this.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 30 Dec 2010 @ 3:42am

A high percentage of murder victims know their attackers. Same goes for burglaries, especially violent burglaries, 65% are known to their attackers. You know Facebook is one of the first places police go for leads.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]