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Facebook Crime Social Networks United Kingdom

Mugger Arrested After Victim Spots Him On Facebook's 'People You May Know' (bgr.com) 235

An anonymous reader quotes a report from BGR: In a somewhat bizarre story which proves that truth is often stranger than fiction, a serial mugger in England was arrested after one of his victims spotted him under Facebook's 'People you may know' section.Originally reported by the BBC, 21-year old Omar Famuyide had a long history of theft, muggings and armed robberies to his name. Not too long ago, Famuyide brandished a knife and stole a car.

Flash forward a bit, and the victim of said car robbery was recently shocked to see Famuyide's face pop up as a suggested friend he might want to add on Facebook. The victim promptly called the police who quickly managed to tie him to a large number of other violent crimes. By the time the dust settled and the full extent of Famuyide's criminal rampage was revealed, Famuyide was sentenced to 17 years in prison.

His Facebook profile ultimately led to charges of robbery, attempted robbery, and possessing a firearm.
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Mugger Arrested After Victim Spots Him On Facebook's 'People You May Know'

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  • Why wonder? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Alumoi ( 1321661 ) on Sunday May 29, 2016 @12:37PM (#52205729)

    ...the victim of said car robbery was recently shocked to see Famuyide's face pop up as a suggested friend he might want to add on Facebook
    Why would the victim be shocked? They shared the same car so they must be friends, right?

    • a suggested friend he might want to add

      They shared the same car so they must be friends, right?

      Certainly not "must" — but "might", which the write-up actually attributes to Facebook, is valid.

      Now, why would you attack a strawman [yourlogicalfallacyis.com]?

  • FB Search (Score:5, Insightful)

    by eric31415927 ( 861917 ) on Sunday May 29, 2016 @12:38PM (#52205731)

    The mugger likely searched the victim on FB after the mugging.
    FB saw one person searching out another and suggested the pairing to the victim.
    With only 50 FB friends and a hidden profile, FB gives me suggestions all of the time.
    Often, the suggestions only make sense if the suggested friend had tried searching for me on FB.

    • FB is a panopticon (Score:5, Informative)

      by rsborg ( 111459 ) on Sunday May 29, 2016 @12:54PM (#52205803) Homepage

      The mugger likely searched the victim on FB after the mugging.

      And this is the reality. You can't do anything on Facebook (even searches) without being caught in one of their algorithms to increase their profit (in this case, by increasing interconnectedness).

      What's even more scary is that Facebook is now tracking and advertising to you when they see you outside of Facebook [1]. This combined with the fact that Facebook trackers are everywhere infested on most sites, means without some means of being ignored [2], you could be tracked even if you didn't visit FB.

      Paranoia: it's healthy now.

      [1] http://www.theverge.com/2016/5... [theverge.com]
      [2/CH] https://chrome.google.com/webs... [google.com]
      [2/FF] https://addons.mozilla.org/en-... [mozilla.org]

      • What's even more scary is that Facebook is now tracking and advertising to you when they see you outside of Facebook

        They've been doing that for close to a decade. The non-technical press has just finally figured it out. It's the main reason I used extensions like noscript, cookiesafe, and ghostery, and now browse in incognito mode all the time. Every 'f' icon on a web page is a little eyeball tracking what pages you're visiting.

        I'm sorry if you're just learning this now. Facebook probably already k

      • What's even more scary is that Facebook is now tracking and advertising to you when they see you outside of Facebook [1]. This combined with the fact that Facebook trackers are everywhere infested on most sites, means without some means of being ignored [2], you could be tracked even if you didn't visit FB.

        Two things:
        a) This is nothing new and Facebook has been doing this for several years.
        b) How does being tracked by Facebook if you don't visit Facebook (and thus don't log in) make this any more scary than every other advertisement company since the inception of the internet?

        Paranoia is just as unhealthy now as it's always been. People just think the old is new and are afraid of the new.

      • Comment removed based on user account deletion
      • Ublock Origin and Privacy Badger are must-haves. NoScript/Scriptsafe if you're really paranoid.

    • Even more likely: On numerous occasions, Facebook has suggested people who I have no correspondence with online. These are people I had never thought to look up profiles for. However, these are all people I have had telephone correspondence with. I suspect the Facebook app, or third party apps, of skimming phone contacts and uploading them to Facebook. In this case, the mugger probably, using the victim's phone, 1) called his own friends, or 2) went on his own personal Facebook page. From there, Faceb
      • Facebook will suggest people based on physical proximity, interests, schools, and other stuff that has nothing to do with searching anything other than the standard profile data.

        I just think it's funny how my ex reacts every time I pop up as a suggested friend. :-)

        • and other stuff

          Like your phone contact list which is expressly shared with Facebook when you install the Messenger app.

          Facebook take a lot more than the standard profile data.

      • by OzPeter ( 195038 )

        I suspect the Facebook app, or third party apps, of skimming phone contacts and uploading them to Facebook.

        If so then this is just plain evil on FB's part.

        OTOH with my original RAZR V3 I am safe from FB scanning my phone contacts.

      • of skimming phone contacts and uploading them to Facebook

        You don't need to suspect this. They flat out do it and are fully up front about it. The sync contact features is advertised as merging your phone contact list with Facebook, although that functionality is now part of Facebook Messenger and not Facebook itself.

  • good that obviously guilty criminal is in prison.

    but this sort of thing shouldn't be used to justify tracking, and invasions of privacy, of people who have not explicitly authorized facebook and other techs to track them.

    but i am afraid they will be so used. be prepared hear more stories like this.

    wonder if criminal and his lawyers(in this case probably cheap or free ones) fully used his legal defenses to invalidate evidence.

    • It is not like the evidence IS his FB profile - he has been recognized, at least by the woman who reported him in. So, even if one takes the pains of "FB is ivading privacy" (to the point people can't be criminals), this instance is not a matter of the evidence being illegal. The most any lawyer could clain would be "the way my client was found was illegal under privacy laws", but once he is found, there is no undoing it. What could possibly be done in a case like this? Subject the guy to some "witness pro

  • by CCarrot ( 1562079 ) on Sunday May 29, 2016 @01:35PM (#52205965)

    ...idiot mugger uses real photo of himself on Facebook, gets recognized by one of his many victims, and arrested.

    Dude, really? Did you go to the Wet Bandit school of bad-assery?

    • Did you go to the Wet Bandit school of bad-assery?

      Uh, you have to stay up to date. They're now The Sticky Bandits. ...and Kevin is the new badass... [youtube.com]

      • Did you go to the Wet Bandit school of bad-assery?

        Uh, you have to stay up to date. They're now The Sticky Bandits. ...and Kevin is the new badass... [youtube.com]

        Ah, I see, thanks for the update!

        Unlike potato chips, I find I have no problem stopping after just one Home Alone movie...

    • ...idiot mugger uses real photo of himself on Facebook, gets recognized by one of his many victims, and arrested.

      Dude, really? Did you go to the Wet Bandit school of bad-assery?

      I think you'll find that every criminal uses a real photo of themselves on Facebook. That's the wonderful thing about the criminal mind, they don't hide their face from public life based on the thought that their face was not publicised during their crime.

  • For once Facebook actually led to something good.

    (Statistically speaking, though, it had to happen sooner or later.)

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