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Facebook 'burglar' tracked down after 'checking account on victim's computer and forgetting to log out'

Nicholas Wig branded 'world's dumbest criminal' by homeowner James Wood

Dina Rickman
Wednesday 25 June 2014 10:41 BST
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Nicholas Wig was branded the 'world's dumbest criminal'
Nicholas Wig was branded the 'world's dumbest criminal'

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A man has been labelled the world’s “dumbest criminal” after leaving his Facebook profile logged in at a house he allegedly burgled.

Nicholas Wig, 26, was arrested after homeowner James Wood helped police in the US state of Minnesota track him down.

Wood called the authorities after he came home from work last Thursday to find his house had been ransacked. His credit cards, cash and cheque book were gone but he found a pair of jeans, a belt, some Nike tennis shoes - and Wig’s Facebook profile logged in and left open on his computer.

“I started to panic”, Wood told CBS News “then I noticed he had pulled up his Facebook profile”. He added Wig might be the “world’s dumbest criminal”, saying “if he hadn’t done the Facebook thing, we would have never caught him.”

Wig was arrested after Wood posted his phone number and an explanation of what had happened as a status on his logged-in Facebook profile. He soon received a text from Wig himself and offered to meet him to give him back his jeans and shoes in return for some of his possessions. Wig agreed to meet, but when Wood saw him approaching he called the police.

“I’ve never seen this before,” said Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom. “It’s a pretty unusual case, might even make the late night television shows in terms of not being too bright.”

If convicted, Wig faces up to 10 years in prison and $20,000 in fines.

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