Pepper spray for South African cash machines

Something else for World Cup fans to worry about! exploding ATMs and random pepper sprays for tamperers.

Why are public perceptions of crime so at odds with official statistics?

There are two obvious answers: The media keeps trying to panic the public, as with swine flu...or the government/police are falsifying the statistics in some way. but this is the British Crime Survey, which is not under the control of either! the article is not of first year essay standard, which is a bit disappointing, since the independent is supposed to be for reasonably well educated people....Ah me!

Four Million British identities are up for sale on the Internet

Times article. Ex-cop has gathered all the data available for sale on the internet into a single database and proposes charging people to look and see if their details are on it...Presumably this is a trailer for a follow-up article?

Experts: cyberstrikes originated in britain not North Korea

What?! It was all our fault??? as the last paragraph says, just because the attacks can be traced to a British server, doesnt necessarily mean that this was where they all really started.

30,000 involved in organised crime in UK

Joint report by Cabinet Office strategy unit and the Home Office. Better find the original.

Gangsters launch fire bomb attack on Liverpool prison

Liverpool organised crime never seems to get into the national news. "Masked thugs on a scrambler bike" who fled in an off-roader. Burnt a van and poured petrol over staff cars....

Six charged in US with "boiler room" fraud

Six former executives at Sky Capital, which used to be listed on AIM, charged with $140 million fraud

MyDoom virus hits key sites in US and South Korea

New version of MyDoom virus on the loose...but was it a cyber attack by North Korea, or just another hacker playing with code? Update your virus defintions quickly!

Paris Hilton Sued in fraud case

Seems an appropriate link to begin with. The links are tenuous, but American lawyers will go to any lengths to get publicity. underneath all this, though are allegations about yet another Ponzi scheme that has absolutely nothing to do with Ms. Hilton.

Return of the Blogger

Your blogger is back from the first Standing Group on Organised Crime Summer School in Catania and can report that it was excellent. You should have been there! I will try to catch up over the next few days on the stories I missed while I was away.