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Brazilian Kidnappers Use Social Networking to Locate Victims

by Matthew Zuras on August 3, 2010 at 01:40 PM

typing on a keyboardAs we've reported before, thieves, scammers and other charlatans sometimes find their targets on Twitter and Facebook, especially when the soon-to-be victims post innocent status updates like, "My 18 HDTVs will be so lonely in my unlocked house while I'm on vacation for the next month," veritably inviting criminals to track them down. Now Brazil's favorite crime-sport of kidnapping has been thrown into the mix, as ransomers have taken to social networking sites to find valuable abductees. (So we're not crazy for thinking that a new Brazilian marketing campaign that will plaster your photo and a map of where you live on the Internet is a scary, stupid idea.)

The AP reports that nine people were arrested as part of a kidnapping ring last week in São Paulo. Investigators had been searching for a 19-year-old kidnapping victim, and tracked his seqüestradors' communications in order to find him. As part of their larger MO, the nefarious group would scour the social Web for potential victims, searching for postings about luxury cars, houses and vacation plans. After assessing a ransom based on those postings, they would then locate where the victim worked and hung out. The AP notes that Brazilian authorities wouldn't say how many people the ring had kidnapped, or how long it had been operating. [From: Boston.com]

Tags: brazil, crime, CrimeRing, kidnapping, KidnappingRing, oversharing, privacy, SocialNetworking, top, web

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