Cops Can Use Fake Facebook Accounts To Lure Suspects, Says Judge

CNN
Dec. 26, 2014

Flashback: DEA Impersonated Woman, Set Up Fake Facebook Page, Posted Photos From Her Seized Phone To Make It Look RealNEW YORK (CNNMoney) — If you’re a criminal, be careful who you friend on Facebook.

A federal judge ruled last week that law enforcement can create fake social network profiles in order to search through a suspect’s account. Cops can lure suspects into “friending” them and then use the content of their Facebook, Instagram or other social media accounts against them in court.

United States District Judge William Martini denied a defendant’s motion to suppress evidence collected from his Instagram profile after he connected with an undercover account created by police officers.

The defendant Daniel Gatson argued that the police had no probable cause to search through his Instagram account. But Judge Martini argued that since Gatson accepted the request to become friends with the police officers, he enabled law enforcement to view photos and other information that he posted to his Instagram account.

As a result, the police did not need a search warrant. The sharing was consensual, the judge ruled.

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