Yesterday I was sent a link to an incredible and epic thread, which a meta-mob of auto enthusiasts formed to mete out rapid Internet justice on a car parts thief who had been preying upon them.

It all started in the parking lot of Toronto’s Yorkdale Mall. While the victim was at work, someone stole a specialized front lip from his car, an Acura TSX, in the middle of the day, using his own car to block what he was doing. The victim went to mall security, got video of the crime, but because the thief took the plates off his car, and there are no witnesses, the police said there was nothing they could do.

Frustrated by this lack of action, the victim turned to the TSXClub.com site, a forum for Acura TSX owners. He started the thread in the early hours of May 21st 2009.

As a bit of background, forums online are one of the largest and most vibrant elements of social media, and automotive forums tend to have a character and class all of their own. What is particularly interesting in this case is the not only way the forum responded, but also automotive forums of all kinds right across the web.

Immediately a suspect emerged, as one of the members recognized the car in the security video as being almost identical to photos of a car posted by another user of the site. At first people were hesitant to point fingers, but when the user tried to defend himself with a poorly written reaction, intense scrutiny started to fall on the suspect.

In examining the user’s history, they found a connection between the suspect and the victim, as a couple of weeks before the theft the victim had posted information about a job at his work place, and the suspect asked about the hours the store was open. The implication being he had used the site to identify his prey, their car, and when they would be at work at the mall, and at which point the parts on the vehicle could be stripped.

Once this connection was identified, a frenzy ensued. Many of the users on the site were also users on other forums and recognized a pattern. Within hours, multiple accounts on multiple sites were linked to the same suspect who had been accused of stealing cars and car parts and reselling them via these forums and all these various aliases. Threads on other sites about the same individual sprang back to life as the chase picked up speed.

Ironically, one of the real tell-tale signs of the connection between all these accounts and identities was the language and writing style used by the suspect, which included poor grammar and spelling.

However, the real connection that unravelled it all was the use of a photobucket account, which is a free image-hosting website that a lot of people use when posting images of their cars to these forums. The suspect was using the photobucket account to host images of the stolen parts he was selling on the various sites. By looking at the URL and then details of the photos, people were able to identify his license plate, house number, and even photos of him.

Rather than giving up or confessing, the person then created a new account, and via that new account confessed to the crime, as an attempt to take the heat off the accounts that were under suspicion. However, he used his same computer to create the new account, thereby having the same internet address and browser information, linking this posted confession to all the other accounts. A day later, after realizing how totally stupid that was, he removed those posts. But by then it was too late. The group had their guy.

After the internet forensics were complete, and it was clear this was the thief, the first thing that emerged were image mashups of the guy, mostly making fun of him. However then users combed over Google Maps using the pics of his car in front of his house and information that it was in Richmond Hill and eventually they were able to identify his address by recognizing it in the satellite view.

Of course it didn’t stop there, the Internet being what it is, they were able to identify his mom and where she lives, his grandmother and where she lives, his sister, her employment, and some of his past crimes, including the fact that he is currently driving even though his license is suspended.

This was then followed by suggestions that all members of all auto clubs in the GTA show up at the guy’s house. Some started talking about the violence they would like to inflict upon the individual. The individual continued to post on the site and reply, escalating the violent rhetoric.

Finally, in the early hours of Wednesday, May 27th 2009, six days after it all started, the thread was closed by site administrators. The suspect’s account was closed and their IP banned from accessing the site.

There’s now a petition asking for the police to get involved. I don’t see why they would not, given that their work has been done for them.

This is a fascinating example of the rapid rise of a “meta mob,” which was the result of not a single community or forum, but rather an aggregation of many sites working together to connect the dots and remove a predator lurking among them.

I’ve talked in the past about the rise of virtual lynch mobs, and the speed by which Internet justice can be handed out. This is something we’re going to have to come to terms with, as it’s certain to re-appear frequently as people realize the power of this kind of mobilization. Why turn to the police when you can raise a mob of Internet people to help bring justice? This is question I expect a lot of people will contemplate.

While the thread has been closed, and one assumes the police will now step in, will local vigilantes show up at this guy’s house and take justice into their own hands? Some suggested going to his neighbourhood and postering the area to alert his neighbours. Is six days enough time for an internet trial? Did the accused have any rights, or chance at a fair process? Or was this process in fact quite fair, and the rights of the accused discarded by his involvement in the process? Other questions you have about this?

Update: So while there has still been no news of an arrest or any legal action against the suspect, the community in general continues to post sightings of him, including pictures, and updated license plate numbers. Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Internet Project pointed me to another similar case from last year. Talk about spreading phenomena…

Update Dec 2010: As far as anyone can tell there was never any legal action taken in response to this incident. The accused still floats around the periphery of the community, and many members remain vigilant, calling him out and warning others whenever he re-appears.