If you are someone who is fond of spilling every little micro-detail about your personal life on social media, then what you’re about to read will help you come to terms with a scary reality!
In Milan, Italy, a group of burglars, dubbed as ‘acrobat thieves’ for their unusual athletic abilities, have been breaking into the homes of the city’s rich and affluent and ransacking them by monitoring their Instagram pages for long.
According to the prosecutors, the group of thieves closely examined photos uploaded by the celebrities on social media and found out where they lived by leveraging the tagged geolocation feature of Instagram. From there on, the burglars figure out when the victims can be expected to be away from their homes and possible entry points.
Scary, isn’t it?
Milan Police officials have found footage which shows the thieves scaling apartment buildings and have confirmed the ongoing illegal operation. The victims of this unique approach to burglary include- famous TV host Diletta Leotta and footballer Achraf Hakimi.
Currently, three suspects have been arrested on Wednesday, while one suspect was caught back in January. The suspects include a 17-year-old who will now appear before a Juvenile Court soon.
The first theft took place on June 6th, 2020 when the group managed to steal close to $184,000 worth of belongings from Leotta which included high-end jewellery, designer handbags and Rolex watches.
Six months later, in the month of December, the group struck again using the very same methods and broke into the home of an influencer called Eleonora Incardona who also happens to be Leotta’s former sister-in-law.
According to Italian media reports, the thieves stole nine bags, two belts, five scarves, a necklace, a bracelet, a wallet, a suitcase, two earrings and $1,214 in cash From Incardona’s place.
As mentioned earlier, the burglars have been labelled acrobat thieves because of their exceptional parkour skills which allow them to easily climb the outsides of buildings and then carry out the ransacking.
Mila police believe that the group made use of geolocation from the Instagram posts and examined the photos to figure out what kind of windows their victims had in order to find a vulnerable entry point into their homes.
The police said that the CCTV footage they obtained from the December robbery showed that one accomplice usually stayed below to keep watch while another scale the apartment building.
These robberies are a stark example of the kind of threat that is involved in sharing your a little too much of personal life on Instagram or any other social media platform. Most of us seldom think of these dangers consciously before we hit ‘post’ to satisfy our dopamine craving that is fulfilled by likes and comments.
But, it is about time, we realise social media platforms are digital open forums especially if your account is set to ‘public’. Thus, one must try to make sure not to reveal any specifics of their personal life on these platforms as it is absolutely impossible to figure out what kind of threat or danger is lurking out there behind every troll comment or a fake account.
