14 DAY TRIAL // A group of criminals used a fake Facebook profile to lure a Belgian Carrefour Express manager into a trap and force him to hand over the keys to the store's safe, which they later robbed.
According to a report from the Belgian Federal Police, this was a well planned hit that involved a lot of preparation and social engineering.
At the beginning of February, the store manager received a friend request on Facebook from a woman named Katrien Van Loo.
The man accepted the request and over the course of the following week he began chatting with the mystery woman more and more.
On February 15, Katrien invited him to her house, at an address in Wijnegem, Antwerp, to meet each other in person for the first time.
When the man arrived at the location at 10:30pm he found an empty building, but before having a chance to leave two men overpowered him.
After gagging and blindfolding the store manager, the kidnappers forced him to hand over the keys to his apartment. One of the crooks went to his home and retrieved the keys to the Carrefour Express supermarket where he worked.
Shortly after midnight the store was robbed and the safe was emptied by a third accomplice. The suspect was captured by a CCTV camera on his way out, as was the one who searched the manager's apartment.
Belgian police have released the photos of the two burglars and are now urging the general public to come forward with any information that can lead to their identification and arrest.
"If you are a Facebook user, remember, anyone can be anyone online. Never admit unknown people to your circle of trust; you jeopardise your own safety and privacy as well as that of the friends who may be posting on your wall," warns Rik Ferguson, Trend Micro's director of security research & communication.
"If you ever decide to meet a stranger, don’t repeat this guy’s mistakes. Do it first in a public place and do not go alone. Trust should be earned, not given," the expert concludes.