A London resident who fell victim to a brazen burglar has enlisted social networking site Facebook in a bid to hunt for the cheeky crook.

Jackie McGeown said the man tricked his way into her apartment block before robbing electronic goods from three flats in the building. Builders were working in the back garden of the house, but the crook bluffed his way past them by making them a brew and even offering them snacks from his victims' properties.

While the workers were taking a break, the unidentified burglar busied himself with breaking into one of the flats where he stole keys to the other properties. He robbed all the apartments stealing consumer electronics and goods - including laptops, jewellery, iPods, and even a flat-screen TV - which he loaded into two stolen suitcases.

The suspicions of the builders were alerted after the crafty crook said goodbye to them, claiming he was off on his holidays. One of the builders took a picture of him on his mobile phone, which was passed onto McGeown.

Using this picture, McGeown created a new group on Facebook called DO YOU RECOGNISE MY BURGLAR?. "I use Facebook quite a lot, and I thought it would be a modern way to catch a burglar," McGeown said.

Users with tips on the possible identity of the burglar can pass on leads via Facebook. McGeown said: "Maybe he's burgled you. Or maybe you've poked him on Facebook. If you know who he is, let me know!" ®

Bootnote

The burglary took place around midday on Tuesday, 31 July, right around the time Facebook had to temporarily suspend its service following a security breach. Coincidence? We think so.

Related stories

• Facebookers bring HSBC to its knees (31 August 2007)
• Facebook moves to cut down application annoyances (29 August 2007)
• US pokes intelligence agencies into Web 2.0 overhaul (22 August 2007)
• Monster Trojan monsters job seekers' records (21 August 2007)
• Many Facebook users expose all to strangers (14 August 2007)
• Facebook quells fears over code leak snafu (13 August 2007)
• Updated Vodafone pulls Facebook ads (3 August 2007)
• Social networks to replace imagination and be woven into clothes (2 August 2007)
• Updated Facebook security glitch exposes user in-boxes (31 July 2007)
• Your boss could own your Facebook profile (16 July 2007)
• Bank robber exposed by exploding trousers (6 September 2006)
• Eight CCTV cameras bust 'Mr Stupid' (28 August 2005)
• Chav burglar collared by webcam (17 February 2005)
• Teen delinquents laugh in the face of CCTV (12 March 2003)