What are criminals and stalkers up to these days? What state-of-the-art strategies are being used by the really bad guys?

To answer those questions, we decided to ask novelists Michael Connelly and George Dawes Green. But, darn. Neither of those authors was in our Outlook phone directory. Go figure.

Amazon’s Sneak Peek

So, we had to turn to Amazon.com’s special feature called “Search Inside This Book” (also known sometimes as “Look Inside This Book,” but we digress):

For instance, let’s use this Amazon search feature on Mr. Connelly’s super-scary book, The Scarecrow. Type in the word “LinkedIn” and it will make you more than pause:

What did Michael Connelly’s stalker find out about his young prey by visiting her LinkedIn page? He learned her dog’s name, her favorite band and the name of her favorite pizza hangout. Indeed, here’s this exceedingly dangerous criminal musing on the naïveté of his victim:

“They believed they could bare their souls on the Internet, post photos and information at will, and not expect any consequences.”

We won’t tell you what happens or what other dangers lurk in this masterful mystery. But we will tell you that:

“He was circling her and she didn’t even know it.”

…by Mr. Green, with a MySpace, on the Internet

Use Amazon.com’s “Search Inside” method to get inside George Dawes Green’s compelling new book, Ravens, and a chillingly similar message unfolds.

In this case, Green’s stalker finds his prey’s pictures (and more) on MySpace. Those pages reveal that his intended victim has a very close relationship with her grandmother – closer even than with her mother. He also learns the victim’s age, devotion to Johnny Depp and her favorite bands. Using that information he…. but, we promise not to ruin the story.

The Friends of Your Friends

If you read either of these two books, my guess is you’ll head right to your privacy settings on MySpace (or Facebook, or LinkedIn).

Better yet, buy both of these books for the young people in your life. No, young people don’t know everything about the Internet. You just think they do.

If you’re younger, buy both of these books for the old codgers in your life. They’re on Facebook and LinkedIn these days even more than you are – but they usually have no idea how vulnerable they are.

Sure, your friends are all wonderful folks. But, what about the friends of their friends? Can they see the photos and private information that you post? Usually, unless you’ve been very careful – the answer is “yes.”

Are you and your family at risk when you post information to social networking sites? Just ask George Dawes Green and Michael Connelly. Or, better yet, read these books – and then decide for yourself.

The thing is, he didn’t do it on purpose – he got it from Facebook. In fact, he got it from one of his other Facebook friends who he knew would never send him anything nasty either.

A Lot More Dangerous Than You Think

Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are all under constant attack, not just from spammers, but from smart, seedy, and even violent criminals.

While you might think this sort of thing is just a pain in the rear end, it’s not. It’s a real threat to your, your family and your business.

The USA Today article pictured above tells the story of Alice and her Facebook buddy:

“With a click of her mouse, Alice let the attackers usurp control of her Facebook account and company laptop. Later, they used Alice’s company logon to slip deep inside the financial firm’s network, where they roamed for weeks. They had managed to grab control of two servers, and were probing deeper, when they were detected.”

You’d Be Fooled Too

We’re all pretty savvy now when it comes to email spam. We know our bank is not really asking us to verify our account and we know SusieQue is not really hot for our body.

But, on Facebook, it’s our trusted friends who send these messages. In my case, because Tim has a band I just figured his link would connect me to a video of one of his songs, or maybe an upcoming concert. Wrong!

When I clicked the link, my computer went nuts and warned me that  cyber-zomboid bots from evil lands were trying to take it over. I still don’t know how badly it’s been infected (read the USA Today article pictured above and it will scare the pants off you).

The Trust Issue

Tim, of course, is mortified. But, it’s more than that. As Gene Leganza said in our recent post, Twitter Spam – Your Friends are Innocent:

“What really bugs me about it is that it made me an unwitting agent of spam. It impacted my followers’ trust in me.”

For Tim, trust is his band’s most precious asset. Just think about who follows his Facebook Fan Page:

“The thing of it is, Michael, many of my Facebook  friends are important music business contacts, and that business is built on trust. Anything that damages it could endanger my livelihood.”

Get a Clue, Facebook

This trust issue is why we are so critical of Facebook. They are dealing with this explosion of spam, crime and personal assaults on their site by stonewalling.

They simply ask us to trust them. We don’t, and you shouldn’t. It’s not enough for a Facebook spokesperson to say:

“We are constantly working to improve complex systems that quickly detect and block suspicious activity…”

We’d never stand for that kind of namby-pamby response from a politician after a terrorist attack. We’d demand swift and specific action that would protect us.

Facebook doesn’t seem engaged or concerned. They never send warnings and they don’t connect or respond to their customers in any meaningful way. This is a social network, isn’t it?!!

And, worst of all, sites like these are being given a free-pass from the hoards of social media gurus and pitchmen who act exclusively as cheerleaders. Almost no one holds up a hand and says “wait a minute.”

You better believe that Tim Champlin now says “Wait a minute.” You might want to, too.

We’ve written a lot about Timothy Bishop and the Ellensburg, Washington Downtown Association, and how they’ve been fighting the good fight to revitalize their shopping district. The most recent was “Associations that Truly Associate,” about how they use MySpace, Facebook and Twitter to get the message out.

Dark Clouds on the Horizon

Well, now Ellensburg (and Kitsap and Gig Harbor and Port Townsend and tons of other small communities in Washington state) are all facing a huge challenge. They are facing a complete cutoff of their funding.

It’s sort of predictable. Times being what they are, there really is a big crunch when it comes to how states will spend the money they don’t have (just ask California).

But small communities, cities and ‘burbs of Washington are fighting back by tweeting, Facebooking, and MySpacing in order to reach the folks who hold the purse strings – the state legislature. And, it seems to be working.

They found the support of two state Representatives, Dean Takko and Bill Hinkle (one Democrat and one Republican), to sponsor a bill to save Main Street programs. Just shows you what those folks can do when they work together.

The result was a 91-7 vote in favor of the bill in the House. Now, though, it heads on to the Senate – and that’s a tougher sell.

Gonna’ Bet Against Them?!!

Where does your money go when it’s spent on buying up car companies and propping up the big banks? I know, sometimes it seems to go to bigger and bigger bonuses for the even bigger doofuses who created the mess in the first place. And, you might not be wrong.

But, guess what? The money spent on small communities and their bedrock businesses pays you back many times over – creating 11,810 jobs and 3,721 new or expanded businesses in Washington State alone. Not bad! Timothy Bishop tells us that every dollar spent in downtown renovation multiplies around 100 times in private investment.

Which is why you’ll find Timothy working the streets, the back rooms in Olympia and typing away on his social media pages – carrying the message. There are good ways for the legislature to spend your money – and this is one of them.

By the way, that article we mentioned at the top of this blog post? It said:

“Grassroots efforts to save the Washington State Main Street Program are generating bipartisan support among legislators during the 2010 legislative session.”

Nice job, Timothy, and all the other folks who are rallying around investing your money – instead of spending it.