What's more surprising: The fact robbers in New Hampshire used Facebook Places to learn when homeowners were out of the house, or the fact we're surprised by this after Pleaserobme.com so effectively demonstrated the criminal possibilities of location-based social networking?

Click to view

According to NECN, police busted a burglary ring in Nashua, NH accused of more than 50 break-ins and seized $100,000 in stolen property. The crooks targeted victims who posted their location on Facebook.

Let's just say this: If you haven't adjusted your Facebook Places privacy settings, you should be surprised if you come home after posting that you're at the bar and your house isn't robbed. [TechCrunch]

Update: well, looks like we were a bit off—turns out Facebook Places was not actually involved in the burglaries. A Facebook spokesman sends along this email:

We've been in contact with the Nashua police, and they confirmed that they while they have an ongoing investigation and have already made a number of arrests, the only Facebook link was that one of those arrested had a Facebook friend who posted about leaving town in the near future (which is why they believe that home was targeted) and it had nothing to do with Facebook Places. The police confirmed that the other burglaries had nothing to do with Facebook altogether.


Click to view