Online Crime Prevention

Post image for pleaserobme.com | Post Status Updates to Twitter at Your Own Risk #safety #crime

pleaserobme.com | Post Status Updates to Twitter at Your Own Risk #safety #crime

by Mike Vallez on February 26, 2010

Neither Mashable nor pleaserobme.com are fresh on the scene with the common sense notion that criminals are just now getting active in social networking. Criminals have been using social networking sites as a form of communication in their criminal enterprises as well as a place to cultivate job leads (crime leads for those who did not understand that statement).

We are all adults here and common sense should, should tell you that there are a lot of “creepy” people on the world wide web (even if you can’t see them). Have you ever bothered to turn on the “who’s near me” or “location” function on any social networking app for your iPhone or on the computer? You will be surprised how many people pop up near you when you are online. I have done this in Tampa and thousands of people were near me and online at the same time. I guess because all of these people are on Twitter and Facebook that they are like me (law abiding citizens) and okay, WRONG!

So what, who cares who is near me! Okay, lets do some deductive reasoning. How many burglars work 9 to 5 jobs? answer 0 (valid). How many sex predators have been cured? answer 0 (valid). How many of the people viewing my location preferences could be criminals or seeking to be involved in criminal activity? answer everyone who can view your location or status update (valid). Don’t be lulled into thinking that because you cannot see a criminal that they don’t exist. You can say to yourself that “that will never happen to me,” but ladies don’t put a status update at 2:00am while at a bar and think you are safe. Being a former policeman I can tell you a rapist is looking for a “crime of opportunity” and hanging out in an entertainment district for intoxicated females is a no brainer, let alone “here I am over here” status updates.

The real bother about the pleaserobme.com website is the so called “public service” value this website is lending to the web community. They tout that what they are really doing is a public service, but from a law enforcement perspective their website offers “zero public service” usefulness. Yes, the user updates are on available on Twitter, but to RSS feed catch them into a website and head the feed category “new opportunities” and “recent empty houses” is pretty disgusting. Mashable bought into this websites intent and lauded them, or at least appeared neutral to the websites purpose. Their purpose “The goal of this website is to raise some awareness on this issue and have people think about how they use services like Foursquare, Brightkite, Google Buzz etc. Because all this site is, is a dressed up Twitter search page. Everybody can get this information.” If everybody can get it, then why provide it to the criminal and make their criminal activities easier to research? Why name your website pleaserobme.com, which shows as #2 for “Rob Me” search parameters in Google? I can’t seem to connect the dots on this one.

Eventually a crime is going to occur and the criminal will confess that he used pleaserobme.com to commit a burglary, worse a rape, and worse yet a child’s murder. I guess pleaserobme.com will use a public relations campaign as follows: “this information already exists on the web and we in no way encourage criminal activities by posting peoples status updates on the web. The fact that a criminal used our website to cultivate a victim for a heinous crime is unfortunate.” (lawsuit) As new media unfolds opportunities to exploit others information go unchecked because there is no law designed to deal with these new issues. Personally, I feel the owners of pleaserobme.com are just trying to make a buck and they really don’t care if anyone gets hurt in the process. CM

Share

{ 12 comments }

Beware! Email Scam’s Still Working!

by Mike Vallez on November 22, 2009

Not a day goes by that I don’t receive an email notifying me that I have one a lottery, sweepstakes, or that I have an opportunity to help a descendant of an important person who has been murdered. Most of these are all a form of the infamous “Nigerian Letter” or “419″ fraud email scams. I encourage you to be vigilant and take caution, because these criminals would not be sending these emails if they were not working. As I was researching information for this blog post I came across a very sad story of a young Chinese girl that committed suicide because she fell victim to one of these scams BBC Story
. This just goes to show you that there are actually people stillfalling for these scams everyday.

The “Nigerian Letter” ruse is primarily carried out through email, but can also come via facsimile or actual letters. More than likely most of you reading this will be contacted or have been contacted by the “Nigerian Letter” scammers through email. The policy you should stick to when you come across an email that appears to be “too good to be true” is to realize it is a scam. The main premise behind the “Nigerian Letter” scam is the promise of a windfall of money if you (the receiver) of the email first send money to the scammers. Most of you probably think that will never happen to me. Guess what it is happening to people just like the young Chinese girl who committed suicide after giving 6000 English pounds to scammers.

The “Nigerian Letter” scammers are not rocket scientists, but have a good thing going. These scammers have been around since 1588 where letters were written stating to be from a prisoner trapped in a Spanish castle (you know the rest). Why stop a good thing when it has been working for so long. This scam is not complex. It is very surprising that people trust a simple email from an unknown individual and soon are sending money to the same individuals. The reason “greed” and “greed” alone. The big promise is if I (the letter receiver) send a little money, I will somehow get a huge amount of money in return for doing absolutely nothing. Thing is the “Nigerian” scammers are the one’s getting rich.

Below are some tips on how to avoid becoming a victim of the “Nigerian Letter” or “419 Fraud” and authorities you can report these incidents to if solicited.

If you receive a letter from Nigeria asking you to send personal or banking information, do not reply in any manner. Send the letter to the U.S. Secret Service, your local FBI office,
or the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. You can also register a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission’s Consumer Sentinel.

If you know someone who is corresponding in one of these schemes, encourage that person to contact the FBI or the U.S. Secret Service as soon as possible. Be skeptical of individuals representing themselves as Nigerian or foreign government officials asking for your help in placing large sums of money in overseas bank accounts. Do not believe the promise of large sums of money for your cooperation.
Guard your account information carefully.

Share

{ 6 comments }