Tech | March 17, 2010 | 21 comments

Too Good To Be True: The hottie that just added you is really the FBI

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grassroutes
Above photo: Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Scoville displays part of the Facebook page, and an enlarged profile photo, of fugitive Maxi Sopo in Seattle. The Feds are on Facebook. And MySpace, LinkedIn and Twitter, too. U.S. law enforcement agents are following the rest of the Internet world into popular social-networking services, going undercover with false online profiles to communicate with suspects and gather private information.. ..

Think you know who's behind that "friend" request? Think again. Your new "friend" just might be the FBI.

The document, obtained in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, makes clear that U.S. agents are already logging on surreptitiously to exchange messages with suspects, identify a target's friends or relatives and browse private information such as postings, personal photographs and video clips.

Among other purposes: Investigators can check suspects' alibis by comparing stories told to police with tweets sent at the same time about their whereabouts. Online photos from a suspicious spending spree — people posing with jewelry, guns or fancy cars — can link suspects or their friends to robberies or burglaries.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a San Francisco-based civil liberties group, obtained the Justice Department document when it sued the agency and five others in federal court. The 33-page document underscores the importance of social networking sites to U.S. authorities. The foundation said it would publish the document on its Web site on Tuesday

More at link..
http://www.csmonitor.com/From-the-news-wires/2010/0316/Doh!-Your-new-friend-on-Facebook-might-be-the-FBI
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21 comments // Too Good To Be True: The hottie that just added you is really the FBI

  • ryan8566
  • pukemnukem
    • +1
      pukemnukem  

    • Well people need to learn that there is no such thing as privacy on the internet. Putting information on facebook is no different than shouting it in the crowded public area.

    • 1 year ago
  • panichead
    • 0
      panichead  

    • Anyone with a "Facebook" account needs to get a life and come to the conclusion that nobody really cares what type of mood your in or what your relationship status is. Instead of wasting 3-4 hours updating your Facebook status, READ A DAMN BOOK AND LEARN SOMETHING,

    • 1 year ago
  • diode
    • 0
      diode  

    • if you're not doing anything illegal, then you have no problems. however more and more people are being caught because they brag online about committing crimes. if you're that stupid to post online, or blab online, about doing illegal stuff, then thank you FBI for getting that person out of our mainstream society. and why is it bad for the feds to do this but people accept when Chris Hansen does it? i don't see a problem with this. people are putting too much crap up on the web, keep private information private people...

    • 1 year ago
  • mirror
    • 0
      mirror  
    • diode:

      There is no point having a logical discussion with someone that has the opinion that the feds are angles in disguise and never, never get the "wrong man"....

    • 1 year ago
  • thedirtman
  • vinicius
  • Incredulous
    • 0
      Incredulous  

    • these guys have got too much time on their hands, they need to get a REAL job...

      oh wait, that is their real job, and my tax dollars are paying their salaries.

    • 1 year ago
  • thedirtman
  • sk0j0
  • vinicius
  • sk0j0
  • JonRaymond
  • UrbanGypsy
  • Introspective
  • satan_lucifer
    • 0
      satan_lucifer  

    • HEY F.B.I! COME LOOK UP MY ASS! I"LL LET YOU SEE EVERYTHING!!! PLEASE FIND A WAY TO CHARGE ME WITH SOME BULLSHIT AND LOCK ME IN A CAGE IN THE "MASS HUMAN STORAGE FOR PROFIT SYSTEM" (THAT NEITHER CORRECTS NOR REHABILITATES),LIKE AN ANIMAL! I WANT TO WASTE AS MUCH OF YOUR TIME AND THE TAXPAYERS MONEY AS POSSIBLE TO SHOW HOW PATHETIC THE LAWS ARE!!!! I THINK I COULD EASILY RUN UP A 100K BILL IN A YEAR WITH MY MEDICAL PROBLEMS! WHY ARE YOU MAKING A BIG DEAL OUT THIS WHEN WE KNOW THAT OUR RIGHTS WERE TAKEN AWAY WITH THE"PATRIOT ACT" AND YOU CAN LOCK ANY OF US UP AT ANY TIME AND SEIZE EVERYTHING WITHOUT JUSTIFICATION! WE KNOW THAT THE SATELLITES CAN READ THE DATE ON A DIME AT 300 HUNDRED MILES UP. YOU DON'T HAVE TO TELL US THAT YOUR ON FACEBOOK TOO! WE ALREADY KNOW...........

      S.

    • 1 year ago
  • trueforyou
    • 0
      trueforyou  

    • I could be wrong but I think I remember hearing about the owner of Whole Foods doing something similar, by posing as an independent consumer and railing against competitors. If I remember correctly he was found to be breaking some kind of law. How is this different?

    • 1 year ago
  • DeliaTheArtist
  • larrysnotes
  • larrysnotes
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