Long arm of law reaches online
Social networks no friendly hide-outs for crime suspects
Posted: March 22, 2010 at 4:30 a.m.
In this Oct. 13, 2009, file photo, Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Scoville displays part of the Facebook page, and an enlarged profile photo, of fugitive Maxi Sopo in Seattle. The Feds are on Facebook. And MySpace, LinkedIn and Twitter, too. U.S. law enforcement agents are following the rest of the Internet world into popular social-networking services, going undercover with false online profiles to communicate with suspects and gather private information, according to an internal Justice Department document that offers a tantalizing glimpse of issues related to privacy and crime fighting.
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.
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Business, Pages 21 on 03/22/2010
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