Politickin' With John Brown: When Social Networking Ends In Arrest

Twitter x Facebook x criminals = better luck next time!

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Complex Original

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Visit John Brown's website and check back each Thursday for a new "Politickin With John Brown" post.

The long-term effects of social networking have yet to fully materialize. But as people seamlessly integrate their online presence into their everyday lives, real-world ramifications have already emerged. Whether it's someone plotting to commit a robbery, or just making legal statements, the interactive media forum can be a dangerous place—password is bond.

No one understands this more than law-enforcement authorities around the world, who now track social sites the way local cops study Hood 2 Hood DVDs. And it seems to be working: this week, suspected Italian mafia member Pasqual "Scarface" Manfredi was detained after repeatedly updating his Facebook page. And he's not the only example of this growing phenomenon; take a look at some more people whose love for staying in touch got them touched...

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Daniel Knight Hayden, Oklahoma (2009)
It's already known that the Secret Service has had its eye on the Tea Party movement thanks to the group's violent rhetoric—but no one knew they were surveilling its members on Twitter. So when Daniel Hayden, aka @CitizenQuasar started tweeting about turning an upcoming protest into a bloodbath, FBI officials came knocking; the 52-year-old was arrested at his home and released to a halfway house. As for those who re-tweeted him, it's safe to assume they got at least one new follower that day.

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Maxi Sopo, Cancun (2009)
If you bounce to Mexico after committing $200,000 worth of bank fraud, you should probably take a page out of Nate Dogg's discography and lay low. But the 26-year-old former Seattle resident thought shit was sweet; not only did he set up a revealing Facebook page that boasted of wild partying, but also unwittingly accepted a friend request from a Justice Department official. D'oh! The feds contacted his Facebook "friend," who facilitated his capture. Now that's what you call profiling.

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Pasqual "Scarface" Manfredi, Crotone, Italy (2010)
Logging in as "Georgie," the suspected mob murderer was so busy keeping his friends close that his enemies ultimately got closer. Police used a new sophisticated surveillance tool to track his location through his Internet updates. When asked about his Facebook profile, the man known locally as "Scarface" most likely replied, "Who put this thing together? Me, that's who! Who do I trust? Me!"

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