Using Google to Commit Crimes

This is a somewhat comical true story of some rather clueless criminals in Denver that used WD-40 to “obscure” surveillance cameras and couldn’t open a few safes even though they apparently had the combinations.  Getting a bit creative these obvious amateurs were able to use Google to search for “how to open a safe” and “how to crack a safe.”  With this information they were able to quickly figure out how to open the safes and got away with $12,000.

 It is not difficult to find information that might be useful in the commision of crimes using Google.  For example one can learn to escape from handcuffs or pick a lock, although obviously these skills still do require some practice.  I’ve previously written about the possibility of using Google Calendar to determine both a target and the timing of a crime.  A similar story recently was reported by the Washington Post and made its way around the blogosphere as well.