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Google street view used to burgle homes

What did I tell ya? It was bound to happen and really, these guys aren’t even using the full power of the interwebs to do it.

It was recently reported that some crooks were using Google to find likely targets for some break and enter gigs. As the story goes these guys were tying in the addresses of expensive homes that were along a major highway route (for quick get-away I assume). Apparently the got away with some $100k in goodies before being nabbed.

The crooks admitted they Googled the term [expensive homes along highway X]. From there it was a matter of honing in on potential targets. While you can opt-out of Google maps and Street View… Google’s never been real quick at acting on those.

For me the funny part is that I actually wrote about not only using Google but also services such as Four Square and Twitter to do this. Be sure to read; Social Darwinism; a guide to Twitter dorking

I hate to say, “I told you so“ but… I did (pretty sure the crooks don’t read my blog).

More here on CNN; Google robberies

And some more here as well;


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3 Comments

  1. eywu October 5, 2011

    Google maps for casing out places has been going on for a while. One of the most famous incidents is the “Bling Ring”. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bling_Ring

    They would cases out celebrity houses using Google Maps, and robbed celebs like Paris Hilton and Orlando Bloom.

    Google Maps FTW!

  2. Loud Market October 24, 2011

    It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to use the data from Google Maps + Facebook posts and/or Foursquare check-ins to make a nice living for themselves…

  3. Clif October 26, 2011

    Thieves may be able to examine highly detailed street level views of where you live with your family, but at least they’re no longer able to get their hands on organic keyword data! Thanks for having exemplary privacy priorities Google!

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