Posted on April 8, 2008
Internet As Crime Solving Tool?
BY JENNIFER EUBANKS
I have come across a few articles online recently that detail ways in which the Internet has been used to catch criminals. The first story I came across, on TechCrunch, was that of the phony Craigslist ad and the two perpetrators who posted the ad in order to cover up their theft of pricey horse saddles. They would have gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for those darn kids the fact that police were able to track the IP address used to post the ad. Unfortunately, it seems the victim is still out hundreds of thousands of dollars from all of the people who came to take advantage of obtaining lots of "free" stuff.
My favorite recent story that I came across was on Wired.com. There I found an article about "Canada's dumbest car thief." This individual took a tricked-out car for a test drive, only to never return. The owner of the dealership, an internet-savvy 20-something, went straight to the automotive discussion forum Beyond.ca and posted a description of the vehicle and the suspect.
What started as a mere post on a forum branched out and used many other online tools such as Facebook and Google Maps to discover the suspect's name, address, and other personally identifying information. Since the thief kept the car parked in front of his own house, the dealership owner knew exactly where to send police, and made sure to be there to tape the arrest and post it on YouTube--a fitting online ending to a crime solved thanks to the Internet.
While the Internet is a tool often used for entertainment or research, it also offers means to track down criminals for crimes that occurred offline. The resolution of these two different cases is just so cool that it shows how much the Internet has to offer when its powers are used for good!
Craig, I thought it was great that you guys provided the necessary information to bring the thieves I mentioned to justice. I was pretty sure this was not a one-time deal, nor the first time you aided in investigations, but it was of course a story that has recently garnered quite a bit of attention. It's good to know that there are forces at work to keep one of my favorite sites honest!
Thanks for stopping by, and keep up the great work! :)
Hey, we help the cops catch crooks a fair amount.
Craig
craig@craigslist.org