Security News > 2020 > June > The girl with the dragnet tattoo: How a TV news clip, Insta snaps, a glimpse of a tat and a T-shirt sold on Etsy led FBI to alleged cop car arsonist

A woman accused of setting fire to two Philadelphia police cars during a May 30 protest was tracked down by her online buying-habits and reviews, a social media sweep, and a poor username choice, the FBI has claimed.

In an affidavit spotted by Seamus Hughes, deputy director of the Program on Extremism at George Washington University, FBI Special Agent Joseph Carpenter details the data trail that led agents to Lore-Elisabeth Blumenthal, 33.

The affidavit describes how the FBI obtained a video clip of a live news feed of the unrest in Philly that allowed investigators to get a general sense of a masked subject's gender, race, clothing, and accessories.

The Etsy customer's profile page listed Philadelphia as the user's location and an Etsy username, alleycatlore, that proved less anonymous than the message board display name because it incorporated part of her legal name.

Conducting an "Open-source search" for that account name - aka googling the term - led investigators to a user of fashion site Poshmark with the display name "Lore-elisabeth." Searching for "Lore Elisabeth" in Philadelphia led to the LinkedIn account of a massage therapist under that name in the US city.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2020/06/17/facile_recognition_feds/