Agents taught how to extract information from social networking sites in US government document obtained by advocacy groupAny criminals dumb enough to brag about their exploits on social networking sites have now been warned: the next Facebook “friend” who contacts you may be an FBI agent.US federal law enforcement agents have been using social networking sites – including Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace and Twitter – to search for evidence and witnesses in criminal cases, and in some instances, track suspects, according to a newly released justice department memo.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/mar/16/fbi-facebook-crime-studyAlso see:When tweets can make you a jailbird
Maxi Sopo was having so much fun “living in paradise” in Mexico that he posted about it on Facebook so all his friends could follow his adventures. Others were watching, too: A federal prosecutor in Seattle, where Sopo was wanted on bank fraud charges.Tracking Sopo through his public “friends” list, the prosecutor found his address and had Mexican authorities arrest him. Instead of sipping pina coladas, Sopo is awaiting extradition to the U.S.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/16/AR2010031600136.html