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Facebook Robbery: Armed Thieves Storm House After Cash Photo Posted

By Admin on June 17, 2011 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

When using Facebook, it's all too easy to forget that you're actually beaming your personal information across the web, and if your settings aren't correct, strangers - and even criminals - can view your updates.

An Illinois woman posted a picture on her Facebook account showing her with a large sum of cash she had just received from a civil car accident lawsuit.

Not long after, two armed men stormed the house. They asked the woman where the cash was but left with only a firearm and jewelry after they realized that the money was not in the house, the AP reports. The thieves were motivated to rob the woman when they saw the Facebook posting, according to the AP.

Social media sites like Facebook can blast updates to everybody in your social circle - friends, family, coworkers... and robbers.

This home invasion in Illinois may very well be a good lesson in how not to use Facebook - and how important privacy settings are. 

Why was this home invasion considered a robbery and not a simple theft? It's because the two robbers used physical force or fear in order to commit the theft, which elevates a simple theft or larceny into a robbery.

And, unlike burglary, since robbery requires use of force or fear against a victim, a robbery can only occur if the person is home. Burglary can occur even if the house is empty.

So, for all you social media addicts out there, next time, if you don't want to attract a robber, Facebook posts should be kept private - especially those posts that have pictures of you posing with large sums of money.

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