Don't Call Tech Support

From Slashdot -

Timothy Short must have thought he'd hit the mother-lode when he stole a PC and a Digimarc printer from the Missouri Department of Revenue, perhaps with dreams of cranking out thousands of fake ids. Problem was he could not unlock the computer he stole and without the necessary drivers, he couldn't use the printer. Ever resourceful, Short called Digimarc tech support a couple of days later, which brought him to the attention of a Secret Service agent, who recognized his voice from a recording of the calls.

Short now faces a $250,000 fine and up to 10 years in prison.

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Crooks use Google search to help crack safe

July 10, 2007 (AP) - Police in Colorado report some crooks had turn to Google to break into the safes at an indoor amusement center in Colorado Springs. Detective Chuck Ackerman says that after struggling to open the safes for more than a hour, the crooks did a Google search on safe-cracking with a computer in the next office. They got away with about $12, 000.

More details at CNews.

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Fined for tackling shop thieves

From the Sun Online, June 30, 2007 -

A HERO shopkeeper was fined £250 yesterday because he tackled three thieves. Jacob Smyth, 33, chased and caught them after they grabbed armfuls of spray paint from his hardware store. Cops gave two of them £80 fixed penalty fines — charged Smyth with assault.

The dad of three pleaded guilty at Truro magistrates court in Cornwall rather than face possible jail. “I have a young child and do not want to run the risk of prison. But am I not allowed to protect my stock and premises from thieves?”

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MySpace leads police to burglary suspects

Two teens accused of burglary were caught after they apparently failed to log off a MySpace.com account on a computer in the home. The 16-year-old stepbrothers were charged Monday with burglary and grand theft as well as violation of probation.

While investigators from the Marion County, Florida Sheriff's Office were at the home investigating, they noticed the computer was on. When the mouse was touched, the screensaver turned off and the MySpace.com account of a person named "Spiders of Hearts" popped up, as did pictures of a boy who was later identified by detectives as the younger of the brothers. MySpace is a popular social networking Web site.

Detectives went to the boy's home and found one of two stolen digital cameras inside a backpack. The second camera at another home. The teens admitted they went into the unlocked home, took the cameras and got on the Internet to view their Web pages. - Full story at Ocala.

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