This is becoming all too common on the Internet: you have something stolen so you go online to see if you can get a good deal and suddenly realize the seller is the same person who stole the thing from you in the first place.

Today’s news is interesting because the man looking to replace his camera thought it odd that the seller was in the same town. This highlights the rather old adage “innocent until proven guilty” with the emphasis on the fact that the dumber the crook, the less likely they will be able to duck and cover once confronted with some basic facts.

In the retail industry eBay is sometimes the first place you look when things go missing. It almost lets the criminals implicate themselves for you, rather than requiring any kind of messy investigation. In fact, you might say that people can be awfully careful, if not downright sneaky, about theft just about up to the point where they post their warez online. And suddenly they’re in a whole new world with little idea of how to keep up the ruse. I almost felt sorry for one guy who went to jail. He was virtually invisible in the real world but lit up like a christmas tree online and probably never realized the connection.