| The Internet is awash in messages warning us to be wary of dangerous criminals. Here we try to sort through them and separate fact from fiction, the real from the spurious. |
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Fun-loving teens are lobbing lit gasoline-soaked rags into cars halted at red lights in a deadly game called spunkball.*
A murderer using the name of "Slavemaster" is luring women to their deaths over the Internet.*
Police have discovered guns disguised as cell phones.
Thieves who work shopping malls are robbing women in washrooms and leaving them naked.
College student who dials #77 on her cell phone evades a rapist pretending to be a police officer.
E-mail offers sniper-avoidance tips from an experienced "SWAT sniper."
Female motorist at gas station is warned about the armed and dangerous man hiding in the back seat of her car.*
A serial killer in Baton Rouge lures women from their homes by playing a recording of a
Cars have been stolen by thieves who wrote down VINs and used them to obtain duplicate keys through auto dealerships.
A serial killer is luring women to their deaths with
Groups of gang members are committing robberies and carjackings in
Hotel room keycards are encoded with personal information which can be easily harvested by thieves.
Scammers pretend to be fraud investigation agents for Visa and MasterCard in order to obtain credit card security codes.
Thieves are using camera cell phones to capture credit card information.
Houston police are looking for robbers who use their vehicles to bump the cars of their victims.
Parking lot carjackers are placing flyers on the rear windshields of automobiles, then taking the cars when drivers step out of their vehicles to remove the flyers.
Woman narrowly escapes abduction attempt in the parking lot of a Cedar Falls
Kryptonite brand locks can be picked with ordinary Bic pens.
The absence of a gap between object and reflection reveals the presence of a
E-mail chronicles various ways scammers might obtain your
Robbers in shopping mall parking lots are using ether-filled perfume bottles to render their victims unconscious.
Rapists are using little children who appear to be lost to lure victims.
Abduction attempt foiled at a Wal-Mart in Saginaw, Texas.
Woman robbed in Garland, Texas, by a thief who injected her with an unknown substance.
Man in Chattanooga pretending to be drunk fools women drivers into thinking they've hit him as a way of luring them from their vehicles.
Rapist prowling a Target store parking lot uses an elderly woman in distress to lure his victims.
E-mail describes a case of three women being slipped Rohypnol by a
Michigan state police have issued a warning about an online predator named
Assailant disables female target's car by putting sugar water in her gas tank, causing vehicle to die in an isolated location.
Some residence locks are vulnerable to unauthorized entry through the use of
Woman in UK jabbed with unknown substance by panhandler.
Smugglers hide drugs in Canadian vehicles parked at U.S. shopping malls, then follow them across the border.
ATM users in the UK are robbed by newspaper distributors who jostle their victims during transactions.
Maryland gangs are engaging in a deadly initiation game that requires new members to steal cars and shoot motorists on highways.
E-mail describes an "acid bomb" left to explode on a residential porch.
Memo from Louisiana government official warns about a Wal-Mart
E-mail describes an attempted rape in Vacaville, California.
Bulletin warns of a new drug called "Jenkem," made by fermenting raw sewage.
Thieves at shopping malls are placing sharpened spikes up against the tires of shoppers' vehicles with an eye to disabling these vehicles and robbing shoppers who are attempting to drive home.
Several homicides in the Florida/Georgia area are all the work of a single serial killer who dismembers his victims.
E-mail describes an attempted robbery at a Wichita, Kansas, convenience store.
Gang initiates in Montgomery, Alabama, are sneaking into cars at service stations and raping white female motorists.
Propane tanks rendered dangerous to use because they've been used in the manufacture of methamphetamine are being returned to stores and resold.
Gas purchaser fails to press "clear" after refueling; additional charges subsequently appear on card.
Criminals at gas stations are handing out key rings with transmitters that enable them to track potential burglary or carjacking victims.
Criminals in the U.S. are using burundanga-soaked business cards to incapacitate their victims.
E-mail warns about a carjacking attempt in Whittier, California.
Thieves steal women's purses from restroom stalls, the burgle the empty houses when victims go to retrieve their "found" handbags.
Car thieves at the Deerbrook Mall place baskets under cars to lure drivers out of their vehicles.
Criminal gangs in Arlington are staging medical emergencies to lure drivers out of their cars and rob them.
Robbers fling eggs at cars to impair drivers' vision.
Thieves drill hole under vehicle's door handle, break in, steal only one item, then use auto's GPS to locate car owner's home for future burglary.
Plastic soda bottles left in unsuspecting residents' yards may be bottle bombs.
A woman approached by a stranger at a gas station was injected with a knockout drug via a handshake.
Attempted abduction at Westfield Mall in Toledo.
Stalker tracks women by offering Ugg boots for sale.
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