If you think pulling off a criminal caper is as simple as a Hollywood movie, then you may want to think again.  These movies make it seem like criminals are much smarter than they are and can only be caught by the most intelligent investigators.  Real-life criminals are not the same as those we see in the movies.  They are normally ill prepared and have not thought through their act of desperation.  Detectives may not even have to rely on their cunning investigation skills as these criminals sometimes get tripped up and caught due to their own stupidity using their cell phones.  The following are some examples of these intelligent criminals.

1. Do not use a stolen cell phone to take your picture.

This case study definitely displays some great thinking by a smart criminal.  Korey Woodard, a 21 year old still cell phone from a University of Illinois student along with some of his friends.  Without thinking, Woodard snapped a picture of himself with stolen phone for his OK Cupid profile.  After he took the picture, he uploaded the picture from the stolen phone to his computer.  The only thing our smart young thief failed to remember is the fact that the victim had his cell phone set to automatically send any pictures to his Facebook page whenever it is connected to a computer.  Just a few days after his phone was stolen, the picture of Woodard showed up on the university student’s profile page.

2. It may not be a good idea to use text messaging when planning your criminal event.

Consider this scenario.  Two teenagers, Christopher Franko, a 17 year old along with his girlfriend, Dana, who is 16 years old, were arrested on May 7, 2010.  They have been arrested for making plans to go on a shooting spree at their high school.  It was uncovered through their text messaging logs.  One of the messages said, “May we kill as many as possible and teach these bastards a lesson.”  They even tried to purchase a shotgun, but failed to do so because they were both under the age of 18.  The two would be assassins even searched for information about homemade bombs.  This is not the first time Franko has been charged with this crime as he was arrested and found guilty to the same charges in 2007.

3. Try not to use the same prepaid cell phone more than once when planning your terrorist attack.

Some of the most recent terrorist attempts have probably not been the most well thought out.  A prime example of this is the recent attempt of the exploding underwear that occurred on a flight to Detroit.  This would be bomber locally was only able to blow up his own underwear.  The next intelligent “wanna be” terrorist, Faisal Shahzad, who attempted to set off a car bomb in Times Square, had made several stellar mistakes.  First, he was not able to successfully make a car bomb.  Second, the authorities were able to find him because of the prepaid cell phone he had purchased to plan his event.  We fail to realize is instead of using several different prepaid cell phones, he only used one for the entire 12 days of planning his attack.  Anyone that has watched any television knows that you are supposed to only use the prepaid cell phone once.

4. Giving your kidnapping victim your cell phone to play games while in hiding is never a good idea.

Elizabeth Shoaf, age 14, had been kidnapped in September 2006 by Vinson Filvaw.  In his carefully thought out plan, he posed as a police officer in order to abduct her.  He locked her in an underground cellar after walking in circles woods to get her disoriented.  The underground area was near the trailer, which he resided.  She was held against her will for 10 days, and was only a mere mile away from where she lived.  Filvaw raped her repeatedly during the 10 day ordeal, and in order for her to keep busy; he gave her cell phone in order to play games.  The young girl made sure that he was sleeping and immediately began to text, following her mother put some friends as well.  After contacting authorities, who were able to figure out her position based on the cell phone signal, were able to rescue her.  Her abductor, Filvaw left the scene when he found out he was being pursued from his radio, but was later found and arrested.

5. Always check to make sure your cell phone will not fall out before you rob someone.

These would-be criminals decided a late-night mugging was the way to go.  Four young guys, including 22-year-old Derek Kelly, 23 year old Craig Speakman and two other juveniles decided to hang out waiting for the perfect victims.  A young man and his girlfriend were heading home after going to the store when the well-organized robbers held them up at gunpoint.  The two victims were pushed to the ground and the man was hit with the gun until he gave them his billfold and her purse, along with the groceries they just purchased.  The group of thieves would have gotten off scott free, except one of the robbers had dropped their cell phone.  Of course, you never want to lose your cell phone, so they went back to where the crime had occurred.  Perhaps he did not think that the cops would still be there, and the suspects were arrested by the police.

These are just five prime examples of how quick the criminals and terrorists have fallen to their own cell phone use.  Anyone who thinks that they are smarter than this group will want to make sure that you remember the following things before you even attempt venturing into the criminal world.

- Text messaging should be used for personal use only, do not use is to plan your criminal event.

- Never take your own picture with stolen cell phone.

- Always make sure your cell phone is properly secured before engaging in criminal activity.

- Never lend your victims your cell phone.

-If you are smart enough to use a prepaid cell phone plan your crime, then be smart enough to switch them often.

These are just some helpful tips in order to make you a much smarter and better criminal, who may be able to evade the police.