Attention CSI writers. Real life is stranger than fiction and the two following examples involving Criagslist prove this.

From Cnet just last week. Man robs Armoured truck and uses decoys dressed as himself recruited via Criagslist to be around the scene as he escapes. He escapes via an inner tube down the river! They may have been filming a new season of Prison Break :) Another link here with a video.

I love this story! Can you imagine pulling this off but not being able to tell anyone!

And this one from March 2008 where an ad announced the contents of a house were "free for all" as the owner had to leave suddenly. The owner returns early to find 30 people taking stuff from his house!

I love this too. It's like the ultimate prank and cost's nothing.

I remember when for Mission Impossible 3 they were running their Easter Egg hunt / ARG (info here) and one code was hidden on Craigslist. I posted an entry to my blog at the most obvious spot (but the wrong answer) and got heaps a traffic. It got taken down 2 days later. Not exactly at the same level of these guys but an example of how you can easily hijack a promotion running on social networks.

Are there other examples of this in which a social network has been used in a nefarious way? I was going to try and claim the term Crime 2.0 but it's already been used. Here's one blog which sums up what I'm thinking.

"I'm just waiting for reports of shrewd criminals that monitor Twitter, Jaiku or Facebook to see reports like "I'm going out of town for the weekend. Ciao" and use the information to break into some poor geek's house. It wouldn't take a genious, that's for sure."

So keep that in mind when you next tweet that the people following you might be doing so for the wrong reasons.