Facebook Post About Jewelry Inheritance Leads to Home Burglary

warningAccording to police in Philadelphia, a 19-year-old man was targeted by three robbers after he posted on Facebook and Instagram about an inheritance of jewelry he had just received.

The three robbers kicked down the door of the victim’s home at 2:30 a.m. Saturday morning, making off with a Rolex watch, several gold chains and mobile phones. Thankfully no one in the home was hurt, but the robbers have not yet been caught.

This case is just the latest in an emerging pattern of criminals who target their victim’s homes based on information gleaned from social media. According to Intel, 78 percent of former burglars used social media to plan their break-ins. Many security experts recommend turning off geo-tagging information before going on a trip so that potential criminals can’t track your movements, and to avoid posting about upcoming vacation plans in too much detail whatsoever. It’s too easy to peer into people’s lives using Facebook, and if you don’t have the proper security measures put on your page, you never know who might be looking.

“People don’t realize what you put out on the Internet, everyone sees it and it’s out there once it’s out there,” one of the man’s neighbors told CBS Philly. “They know where you live, you’re telling them what you have, it’s like almost inviting them in.”