Instagram picture leads to arrest of theives

A steak dinner posted on Instagram by an identity thief led to his arrest and the arrest of his accomplice. Nathaniel Troy Maye, 44, of Harlem, N.Y., and Tiwanna Tenise Thomason, 39, of Miramar, Florida both pleaded guilty in Federal Court in Fort Lauderdale on Friday, to aggravated identity theft and possession of unauthorized access devices. Both face up to 12 years in prison.

The picture that led to the arrest

Back on January 5th, a witness working undercover for the IRS had dinner with the couple at YOLO restaurant on Las Olas Boulevard. During that meal, the witness told the IRS that he had met with a man  named "Troy," who was dating Thomason. The man said he was from Harlem and had 700,000 stolen identities to sell. The undercover witness met again with the couple two days later at Morton's steakhouse during which time he was given a flash drive containing 50,000 identities from the couple. The agent told the pair that he was going to use the identities to file fraudulent tax returns and promised to pay him for the names after the returns were filed.
Now here is where the Instagram trend to memorialize meals over the app backfired for the thieves. When the IRS examined the flash drive, they found information linking the drive to "Troy Maye." Another IRS agent, Louis Babino, checked Instagram and found an account for TROYEMAYE. Looking at the pictures on the account, the IRS found a photo of a steak and macaroni and cheese meal containing the caption "Morton's" that matched the January 7th meal between the undercover witness and Maye. The IRS agents also found a profile picture of Maye on his Instagram account and the witness immediately identified the man in the picture as the person who turned over the smoking gun flash drive full of stolen identities.

Thomason

Maye

With a fairly long prison term awaiting both Maye and Thomason, let this be a warning to those of you out there who feel compelled to share their meals with the rest of the world on Instagram. Make sure that you have no skeletons in your closet before you post your lunch on the app.


 So all you naija instagram freaks be careful of the pictures you post cos they might be used against you in the court of law. just saying. . .






Source: Gizmodo