Collar-Bomber Tracked By Gmail Accesses

RockDoctor writes "Reports indicate that a suspect has been arrested in the Australian 'collar bomb' hostage/extortion case. The allegation is that the suspect had set up a Gmail account, through which he (allegedly) planned to communicate with the extortion victims and arrange delivery of the payment. Unfortunately for him, records were kept showing the location and time the account was set up, and also for a number of accesses. This information, combined with 'CCTV footage and motor vehicle records,' allowed the police to put an identity to the suspect, and arrange for his arrest. So, if you're planning an extortion scheme, don't drive your car to the internet cafe, don't set up the account from an airport, wear anonymous clothes (like Jason Bourne does?) and do all your accesses through hacked shell accounts somewhere in Outer Mongolia. But, this being Slashdot, everyone knew that already."

Comments

Best advice not to get caught

[Anonymous Coward]

Don't do anything illegal.

Re:Best advice not to get caught

[dohzer]

Tell that to the people who get wrongly jailed.

Re:Best advice not to get caught

[Z00L00K]

Always work through people's unsecured access points.

A proxy node that has wireless access through an unsecured AP in one part of the world allows you to access it from another part of the world, and having a proxy set up inside a major company network can be a benefit too. And use TOR too just to make things even trickier.

Then access the entry AP from a long distance away using a Cantenna.

Of course - all data traffic needs to be encrypted except for the last hop. Add random time delays in the proxies to mess with data correlation too. Mail enters proxy, waits for a few minutes up to an hour and then bounce to the next proxy to finally arrive at destination. Patience is a virtue.

Anonymous clothes?

[stevegee58]

You mean a business suit and a Guy Fawkes mask?

Um

[assertation]

But, this being Slashdot, everyone knew that already

Anyone with a gmail account should know it. You go to a few Google places while signed in it tells you your location. You don't need to be a geek or what passes for one on Slashdot. You only need to be awake.

What a sick freak!

[darkmeridian]

So he wasn't very technically savvy, and let's make fun of him for that. But Jesus F'innng Christ!!! He stuck a fake bomb collar around the neck of an eighteen year old girl to extort her parents. It took cops TEN HOURS to get that device off of her. Can you freaking imagine that ordeal? I would have shit my pants a few times already in that time span.

And not to be disrespectful or anything, but that girl is really pretty!

Re:gmail?

[Arancaytar]

if it weren't for that meddling Google!

fixed

Re:Had this happen in Erie PA

[Jon Stone]

The "poor guy" is believed to have been part of the gang that came up with the plan in the first place. He wasn't, however, expecting it to be a real bomb.

Brian Douglas Wells

Re:or, even better

[Hatta]

Smart criminals exist. We call them politicians and executives.

Re:or, even better

[biodata]

Being in a position not to get caught and punished for their crimes does not make them not criminals.