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Mafia Boss Betrayed By Facebook

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the hate-when-that-happens dept.

An anonymous reader writes "One of Italy's 100 most-wanted criminals, a vicious mafia boss who had been on the run for months, was betrayed by his passion for social networking and flushed out thanks to Facebook. Using the name 'Scarface' from the gangster movie starring Al Pacino, Pasquale Manfredi, 33, a boss of the the ferocious 'Ndrangheta mafia organization from the Calabria region in southern Italy, had logged on to his Facebook account so often that police were able to trace the signal from his Internet key and find his hideout.' Seems the Mafia Wars Facebook phenomenon goes deeper than it seemed!"

10 of 214 comments (clear)

  1. Al Pacino was not the first scarface. by Nadaka · · Score: 4, Informative

    Mr. Capone would like to have a word with you.

    1. Re:Al Pacino was not the first scarface. by RevWaldo · · Score: 2, Informative

      Not to mention Paul Muni.

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  2. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 5, Informative

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  3. Re:Trace the signal from his internet key? by canajin56 · · Score: 2, Informative

    They linked "Trace the signal" to an article about companies using GPS trackers in employees' cell phones. I think it's simplified so that ABC can understand it, and they still don't ;)

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  4. Re:internet key?? by ls671 · · Score: 2, Informative

    Just Google for it ;-)

    "Internet key"

    I found this one really quickly:

    http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/review/broadband/3-mobile/broadband_internet_key/222237

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    Everything I write is lies, read between the lines.
  5. Re:Trace the signal from his internet key? by Mr_Silver · · Score: 4, Informative

    I assumed that internet key was a badly translated Italian phrase for IP address. But your explanation probably makes more sense.

    Whereas we call it a USB Modem, in Italy they call it "Internet Key".

    Basically, they got his IP address from Facebook, took it to the Mobile Broadband supplier who gave up his billing address.

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  6. Re:Trace the signal from his internet key? by dnaumov · · Score: 3, Informative

    I assumed that internet key was a badly translated Italian phrase for IP address. But your explanation probably makes more sense.

    Whereas we call it a USB Modem, in Italy they call it "Internet Key".

    Basically, they got his IP address from Facebook, took it to the Mobile Broadband supplier who gave up his billing address.

    Or actual triangulated physical location. If you are a mobile provider, these things are quite possible, although whether the law enforcement agencies get access to this kind of data depends on the laws of your country.

  7. Re:Internet key? by Andy+Dodd · · Score: 2, Informative

    Apparently that's how the term Italians use to describe USB 3G wireless modems translates into English. (See earlier comments...)

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  8. Re:Trace the signal from his internet key? by Exitar · · Score: 5, Informative

    A wireless USB stick, known in Italy as "chiavetta internet"/internet key.

  9. Re:Trace the signal from his internet key? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    As an italian, I can tell you that "internet key" is the way the average Joe in Italy calls a 3G usb dongle.