Social media...heartbreaking story

I'm 24 and I gave up on using social media for the most part. I still have a facebook page that I use to see what my relatives are up to and talk to coworkers and family and also post pictures of some cool finds or places i've been but its pretty rare that I do post anything. I don't need to be 1000 facebook "friends" with people I barely know and I don't want people knowing that i'm on the other side of the state and that my house is free to rob or vandalize. I have nothing to prove to anyone and I don't give a !!!! what Billy Bob the mailman from Arkansas thinks about me. I never got why some people have to have 6 different social media accounts either, that's way too much time spent on people that probably don't care about you.

Horrible! To think there are Humans out there hunting for other Humans via Social Media!

However, this whole Facebook "I'm rich as hell and going on vacation" thing has given me an evil idea....! Do the post and turn off all the lights and sit and wait...like a Spider.....Using the 'World Wide Web!' ....You sit back all comfortable and just wait there in the dark....Then you get to catch yourself a perp breaking into your house and rob THEM! Make them pay up or you call the cops or worse!

I suppose it would fall under a form of "entrapment" though....that is if any charges were pressed...Which, in my idea there wouldnt be...Why, even if the perp didnt have a nickle, or a gold ring, or a nice set of shoes, at least you could give them a good @ss whooping and make them take the garbage bags out to the street!

It would make for a Hilarious post and adventure! Easy to execute and depending on the perp, possibly profitable! Imagine the possibilities! Like a Staycation of sorts!

Better yet! Instead of catching a poor drug addict aspiring burgler, chatter around the interwebs like you are an 11yr old boy home alone, like that one guy on TV does!...then catch a weakling rich Pedo! Less risk and more cash!

From what I've seen on that one guys TV show, some of those freaks are quite wealthy and would gladly pay you $1000 or more to let them go, take your trashbags out to the street, and possibly submit to a medium style @ss whooping!

Hunting Pedos, depending on your area, I bet a guy could easily haul in $3k per evening before Hannity comes on and perform a valuable public service to boot!! (Its a valid concept, but it aint funny though is it?)

There are things people do not understand about social media and the information they post.

1) If you post a picture of something you took in your house, unless you turn of geo-tagging, all of that meta-data is contained within the image file. You are essentially posting EXACTLY where you live.

2) Posting pictures of the outside of your house is also advertising where you live, you don't even need to have geo-tagging turned on.

3) Posting how long your commute to work and back again, as well as what time you leave in the morning provide enterprising criminals with a window of opportunity.

4) Posting that you are going on vacation on Saturday and that you will be gone for two weeks is siren call to all criminals paying attention.

5) The belief that all of that stuff you post is irrelevant and no one would find it the least bit interesting is completely and totally wrong.

6) The internet is forever. That complete and total lapse of judgement you post on Instagram or Facebook your senior year of high school can have very real and chilling effects of future job prospects. Yes - potential employers will scour your social media accounts and deny you a job if they find anything could potentially be a PR/HR headache for them.

7) Committing a crime while live streaming of facebook, or say, breaking into a water park and posting evidence on Instagram will get you arrested. See item 6.

8) The internet of things makes your life easier. It also makes the life of criminals easier too. If you think those nifty internet-enabled door locks is great, there is a 15 year old kid in Estonia that thinks it is great too, and he will sell the codes he hacked from you to someone who lives locally and make some good money.

9) Those cameras that people like to have so they can watch their pets at work, or their kids in their crib - They are one of the easiest things to hack and they probably have no clue as to HOW MANY people are watching their pet, or their child. Those pet cams also tell criminals if there is anyone in the house. Jam the wifi signal and you will never know they were in the house until it is too late.

10) Wow! I can open my garage door with my smart phone! Yeah, so can't some 16 year old kid in Norway. No doubt, someone will pay money for the codes to your garage door.

11) Post a picture of those expensive concert/sporting event tickets complete with barcodes - Good luck getting into that event. The person who counterfeited your ticket is now enjoying your seat.

People are quick to give up information every time they are asked. Join this - give your phone number, your email, your mac address - all of these things are used to correlate massive amounts of data. They say that your credit card company knows when you are going to be going through a divorce before one or both sides know. This is why online services are free. These companies make a forture selling every single key press you make to third party entities who mine the data and resell the refined data to someone else for a hefty profit.

Your phone company/google/facebook/amazon/apple knows where your are every moment of the day. They know how long you spend in various locations. All of this information is collated they they can predict your behavior. Most people have location services on their smart phone turned on for everything. All of your apps that use location services know where you are at every moment of the day to a terrifying precision. There is no difference now between civilian GPS and Military GPS. There is just GPS. If you have background refresh/push data turned on, it is continually sending your location to who knows who.

The microphones and cameras of your laptops, tablets, and smartphones can be turned on by the government. Hell, if your smarth phone is powered off, it can remotely be turned on. So lone as the battery has power, it is intermittently pinging a tower. For Androids, you can at least take the battery out. For iphones, you need to remove the sim card.

Smart phones are turning in to one of the most important piece of evidence in both civil and criminal court cases. Fast Pass transponder data is increasingly being collected by lawyers/police.

People need to ask themselves if the price of modern technology is worth it. There is no expectation of privacy anywhere, and if facebook/google/etc/etc have their way, your thoughts will no longer be the final refuge for privacy.

I really have to smile when I drive past a house on garbage day and see a box at the curb advertising you just bought some kind of high end electronic equipment. You know the manufacturer puts a lot of money into that box so it catches your attention in the store. Just think how it looks to a crook setting at the curb!

Don't forget all the stuff you post on this forum. Your identity on this forum is NOT completely secure--there are people who know how to identify you. All the equipment that you list in your signature line is an open invitation, as well as all the gold, silver, gems and other valuables that you find and post photos of. In addition, the IRS will be very interested in those of you that find quite a bit of wealth over the year, and yes, you should declare the income from it when you sell it. Folks admitting to trespassing on here are a prosecutor's dream, and have set themselves up for criminal prosecution as well as possible civil court trouble.

Snap On Man said:

I really have to smile when I drive past a house on garbage day and see a box at the curb advertising you just bought some kind of high end electronic equipment. You know the manufacturer puts a lot of money into that box so it catches your attention in the store. Just think how it looks to a crook setting at the curb!

Click to expand...

This is why I take all of the boxes my electronics are shipped in and tear them up real good so they fit inside the smallest trash bag possible, which goes into a larger trash bag.

Yeah. I can point out at least two hunters who proudly put pictures up the internet from their cabinets full of ancient finds including the ancient gold and silver ones.
Both got burgled within a few months.

Got it myself too ceveral times. After posting nice roman finds at once some for me unknown request me to go hunt together to eager. Would drive after picking me up if i gave my adress.
I put those offers down.

BottleCapKing said:

This is why I take all of the boxes my electronics are shipped in and tear them up real good so they fit inside the smallest trash bag possible, which goes into a larger trash bag.

Click to expand...

smart idea !

At the very least if you have large boxes with the product printed on the outside is to undo one side and reverse it so the plain inside is showing outside and then tie it with twine.

Also, if you don't already have video surveillance cameras to monitor your property, you can use old smartphones with your wifi as security cameras, here is the link to the free "Alfred" app for android (should be an iPhone version too) -

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ivuu&hl=en

I can access my "Alfred" cameras even when away from home, it can also be set up to notify you if it detects motion.
The best part is there is no monthly fee, just need to have wifi.

Be sure to put signs up as a deterrent to make thieves think twice.

Here is a type of sign you can use -

BottleCapKing said:

1) If you post a picture of something you took in your house, unless you turn of geo-tagging, all of that meta-data is contained within the image file. You are essentially posting EXACTLY where you live.

Click to expand...

I've read this before but have not been able to determine if it's really true. Does anyone know where this info is stored and how to access it?

Grumpa said:

I've read this before but have not been able to determine if it's really true. Does anyone know where this info is stored and how to access it?

Click to expand...

It's there, all kinds of camera setting info plus GPS coordinates if you haven't turned that off.

http://www.slaw.ca/2013/09/26/metadata-in-digital-photos-should-you-care/

Grumpa said:

I've read this before but have not been able to determine if it's really true. Does anyone know where this info is stored and how to access it?

Click to expand...

It is quite true.

Then we have all these people texting and driving. It's really dangerous out there. I still don't have a cell phone.

Grumpa said:

I've read this before but have not been able to determine if it's really true. Does anyone know where this info is stored and how to access it?

Click to expand...

Yes, it is true. The information is stored as metadata inside a jpg image. EXIF is short for Exchangeable Image File, a format that is a standard for storing interchange information in digital photography image files using JPEG compression.

Almost all new digital cameras use the EXIF annotation, storing information on the image such as shutter speed, exposure compensation, F number, what metering system was used, if a flash was used, ISO number, date and time the image was taken, whitebalance, auxiliary lenses that were used and resolution. Some images may even store GPS information so you can easily see where the images were taken! This of course requires a camera with GPPS hardware built-in, or a smartphone camera.

EXIFdata.com is an online applicatation that lets you take a deeper look at your favorite images! There are also EXIF viewers that you can download into your PC or Mac computer.

Grumpa said:

I've read this before but have not been able to determine if it's really true. Does anyone know where this info is stored and how to access it?

Click to expand...

Yeah it is true!
Here (told before about the races for good spots) people also look for those coordinates when you post forum pics in the field holding that great find in your hand. (or that pics series "here i'm going to hunt" and further in the post "and this is what i've found")

The easiest way to know what's to find were.
So be aware of these kind off trick!!

But there's a fun solution too. Those coordinates in a photo can be manipulated.
I sometimes put altered ones in a pic so that huntspot-thief #1 is fooled to steal the spot of huntspot-thief #2 or some other unreliable jerk.
Or with this i'll send them all to huge empty places thinking there's roman or gold and silver to be found so they waste their time.