This Is Why You Don't Friend Your Neighbor On Facebook
Iain Wood seemed like such a nice guy. He got friendly with everybody in his apartment building; he helped with small tasks, was always there to listen, and was always there on Facebook. Normally this story ends with him having a couple of corpses in the shed out back, but it's actually a bit nicer. Well, sort of.
Turns out Wood had a serious gambling problem, so he was using his close personal connections with his neighbors to hack their Facebooks and bank accounts and use that to rob them blind. Oh, and he was also stealing their mail, because he hadn't established his douche credentials quite enough. It was only when he screwed up that he got caught.
Essentially, Wood got cocky and transferred $3000 or so directly from a neighbor's account into his own. When the police knocked on his door, in true idiot criminal style he said "Have you been on to me for a while?" Well, the police couldn't turn down an opportunity like that, and found bills, passports , bank statements, and other stuff a good neighbor doesn't collect.
Once he had that info, it was almost painfully simple: he just pretended he'd forgotten his password, and used information like mother's maiden names to get around the security checks. From there, he'd get the card, overdraft the account, and go on his merry way.
Currently he's awaiting trial, on several counts of identity fraud. But, on the bright side, at least his neighbors no longer have to deal with him spamming their wall about fertilizing his crops.
Photo: SAEED KHAN/AFP/Getty Images
