IF YOU ARE ON THE INTERNET AND DOING WRONG YOU WILL GET CAUGHT

[The Streets Don't Love You Back]

Social Networks, Criminal Networks?

Mar 19, 2010 5:10 pm

One of Italy's 100 most wanted criminals was arrested in Isola Capo Rizzuto on Tuesday, thanks to his love of Facebook.

ABC News reports that police tracked mafia boss Pasquale "Scarface" Manfredi, 33, was tracked by police because the boss of the 'Ndrangheta mafia organization of Calabria in Southern Italy logged onto the social networking site so often that they could trace his internet connection back to his hideout.

Manfredi is accused of at least 20 crimes and a number of killings, including the 2004 massacre of a rival clan leader in which he blew up the leader's armored car with a bazooka. According to Crotone police chief Angelo Morabito, "He is without a shadow of doubt the most dangerous criminal of the province of Crotone."

So, perhaps the recent news that the Justice Department is trolling social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter, is good news. This is not the first time that a criminal's love of social networking has been their undoing, after all--here are four more criminals who might have remained anonymous, had it not been for their love of the Net