20 Infamous Crimes Committed and Solved on Facebook.
Criminals might be taking to the web, but police are meeting them there.
Facebook has proved to be a powerful tool for law enforcement to locate criminal activity. All Facebook communication leaves a trail, which can come in handy when police need to solve a crime.
UK police have reported a 540% increase in Facebook crimes over the past three years,according to the Criminal Justice Degrees Guide. Crimes have taken a different form on Facebook, requiring the creation of new laws or reinterpretation of existing laws.
With more than 100,000 UK crimes linked to Facebook over the past five years, it’s no wonder police are looking for suspects or evidence on the site. Some law enforcement, such as Sheriff Al Lamberti, have found great success using Facebook to find criminals. Lamberti arrested the criminals who stole air conditioners in Florida after he posted photos of suspects on Facebook, which led to a tip.
The infographic below, created by the Criminal Justice Degrees Guide, shows 20 crimes that Facebook assisted or helped solve. The criminals either posted photo evidence or statuses about the criminal acts, or used Facebook to communicate about the criminal activity. The infographic shows several incidents in which Facebook cyberbullying, cyberstalking and relationship disputes have led to death.
