To ease us all into 2013, I thought it was time for another round up of bizarre social media and law enforcement stories; you can find more in the Finally Friday category.
Three stories have taken my eye recently.
1. The Dopey Drug Dealer
Ever made that classic mobile phone mistake when you send the same text to everyone in your address book?
A 29 year old from Stafford did.
He texted:
‘Safe – got bone dry cheese if u need’ which translates pretty simply into I’ve got cannabis for sale if you want any.
Unfortunately, one of the people in his address book was the police office who had previously arrested him for drug dealing.
Fast forward 4 months and Mr Streeter was sentenced to 16 months imprisonment.
2. Facebook Fail
Like so many others, Jacob, a young man from Astoria, Oregon made the error of bragging about his crimes on Facebook.
His post was short, sweet and incriminating:
One of Jacob’s Facebook ‘Friends’ shared this message with a local law enforcement officer.
3. How to impersonate a woman to get your iPhone back
I’ve posted before about how new smartphone apps can help recover your phone if it’s stolen – (see How to mug off your smartphone thief and ET: phone home).
New Yorker Nadav Nirberg had to rely on his own wits when he left his iPhone in a cab just after midnight on New Year’s Eve.
A couple of hours later he start getting email notifications from an online dating site called OKCupid.
He quickly worked out that someone had found his phone and was starting to make use of its internet capabilities.
So Nirberg, logged on to the site himself, created a female persona complete with picture of a gorgeous starlet and started flirting with his phone’s new owner.
He set up a date and waited.
When the thief turned up with a bottle of wine and eager attitude, Nirberg was waiting with a hammer and quickly assured the return of his phone.
