I am glad to see people on this thread who can differentiate between the morality of what he did and the actual skill, balls, and sheer luck this guy had.
While I do not condone or advocate stealing from banks or anyone, well, the damn banks do not seem to have a problem with stealing from clients . . . where I live, the banks charge the local currency equivalent of FIVE US DOLLARS per deposit, even small deposits . . . I had to order a couple of PC parts a few weeks ago, and experienced it for myself . . . stood in line for 30 minutes (out of 8 teller windows, only 4 were manned, and this is in the middle of the afternoon on a weekday) and paid that much to deposit the local currency equivalent of 15 US . . . this is in a country where minimum wage is like $2 US per hour folks . . . someone has to be a straight sheep to criticize a person who steals from banks while not saying the same about the banks themselves . . .
Yes it is stealing, since the bank is aware that people are forced by circumstance into using their "services". It was either use that bank, or not order the parts I needed.
Defending banks in this day and age denotes a lack of brains AND moral fiber
Calling it stealing when you walk into the bank and ask for permission to store your money there and use their services denotes a little something too.
Oh noes, another one defending the banks . . . look, it's very SIMPLE: overcharging clients that much simply because the bank in question CAN is predatory to the point where it amounts to stealing, there is no justification for charging that much, specially in a country as poverty ridden as this one. If you like overpaying that much, suit yourself, but defending such institutions at this point is beyond ludicrous.
You're in Colombia? I find it pretty hard to believe any latino in Latin America would be so careless with their finances that they let $5 deposit fees hit them more than once per month.
But what do I know ... I'm just an Australian who's been living in Central America in countries much poorer than Colombia... but at least the people a little north of you are nicer. : )
Thanks, it was also a good story, nothing like our geek criminal mastermind (because he is evidently a geek) :) but an enjoyable story nonetheless . . . can you fellows tell I enjoy true crime stories? Both entertaining and informative, it's the only topic I read besides tech . . .
And to think the guy is actually a geek if I ever saw one . . . I love this! There are Mafia/Gang Baboons who commit violent crimes and prey on the weak who can't DREAM of as much money as this guy made.
What do you know? Our very own geek criminal mastermind :-)
I am simply amazed. The fellow, all morality aside, is simply Mr. BadAss himself.
Two years in jail for all that! I know of people who have participated in the sale of $10,000 US worth of Cocaine (a pittance, all things considered) and have gotten life sentences.
That's because it was Cocaine, not because of the money. They could have been giving the coke away and they still would have received a life sentence, most likely.
I agree with your point, and I knew that - giving drugs away is distribution and a person will get into just as much trouble for it. What I aimed to express was how amazed I am at the way things work out in the criminal world, and how talented AND lucky that fellow is. I mean, no violence at all, all that money, and two years (once again, I know of cases where people have done that long, in installments, for traffic tickets!) plus the very real possibility of landing a well paid job afterwards . . . just amazing.
You know what I like about this guy? that he did not prey on the weak. He preyed on those bigger and stronger than him.
Ah, to think that he could have rented that van under another name, and taken steps to make sure there were no prints left anywhere, which is actually very easy to do . . . this goes to show, no one, not even someone like that, can be a one man Army . . .
> You know what I like about this guy? that he did not prey on the weak. He preyed on those bigger and stronger than him.
Oh please with the righteous Robin Hood ethics. First, they were not stronger than him, that how he got in. Second, just because you're a bank, it doesn't mean having hundreds of thousands stolen doesn't impact anyone, or is somehow just, for that matter. Third, what do you call framing the Brink-guy for smoke-screen? Fourth, or withdrawing from thousands of pirated credit- and debit cards? Fifth, or stealing a national treasure from the people of Austria, only to stick it in a cellar, to be lost?
Even though he didn't exploit personal weaknesses in the same way a drug-dealer does, he did indeed inflict harm on actual people.
Fantastic skills? He kept documentation of his false identities and jobs. He filmed his heists. He carelessly used names on the phone. He was sloppy, and he paid for it.
It was actually really surprising how inept he was at that side of it, and the ease with which he'd incriminate himself and everyone else via cell phones and email.
It just seemed like a really weird contrast, smart enough to plan and execute flawless robberies and escapes repeatedly, yet so stupid in that aspect. If he watched any crime serials or movies he'd probably have been unstoppable.
Don't you think that he wanted to get caught eventually?
I think this was the safest way out of criminal lifestyle that could probably lead him to premature death.
It worked out great for him. Just selling movie rights would earn him loads of cash. Not to mention being most renown bank security consultant in the world.
Not really. Your skills and what you apply said skills to don't overlap.
What's a dilemma is that we only hear about these people when they apply their skills to evil. If he'd done a career in bank security, it's very likely we'd never have heard a word about what he did.
> I am pretty sure that the star wasn't made without exploiting other people
Sure, that's why it belongs to, and should belong to, the austrian people.
The dilemma is that on one side I am fascinated by a guy like that on the other what he is doing is obviously wrong from at a legal point of view.
He is not just a criminal who do what he do because he have no choice. He could have been doing "good" and still be highly successful.
It's not just the skills it's the guts to do what he do. To live a life that is almost crazier than any story you can think off.
In some ways he is an artist.
With regards to the Austrian people you are missing the point. That star is not just made through hard work from the Austrian people. I am pretty sure that diamond didn't come from Austria although I could be wrong of course.
Interesting, that you would attribute "righteous Robin Hood ethics" to my post. Not so. Read what I wrote.
They were stronger than him in the sense that they had more resources than he did. That they failed to utilize those in an efficient manner is another matter altogether.
Nor did I say that stealing from a bank is just, or that it did not impact anyone.
Framing the brinks guy? Was the man charged or convicted? No. Therefore, no frame.
Withdrawing from thousands of cards, thereby circumventing the security of financial institutions (who have billions available to them) qualifies as taking on stronger forces.
Stealing that jewel is another instance of that.
Nor did I say that he inflicted no harm on anyone.
Please, quote me on what I wrote, not what you fantasized and imagined I wrote.
How ridiculous, one states something, and here comes someone with deficient reading skills and whips up a slew of crap that has no bearing on what I stated.
Once again, go ahead, quote me on what I wrote. If I wanted to express the things you claim I did, I could have and can do so quite explicitly and clearly.
"Withdrawing from thousands of cards, thereby circumventing the security of financial institutions (who have billions available to them) qualifies as taking on stronger forces."
No. He stole money from people. Thousands of them. Actual people's actual cards. If someone did this with your card, I doubt you would say they stole from your bank.
> How ridiculous, one states something, and here comes someone with deficient reading skills and whips up a slew of crap that has no bearing on what I stated.
So, I'm not going to waste any time getting into an argument with someone with deficient argumentation skills, except to clarify one bit:
> Framing the brinks guy? Was the man charged or convicted? No. Therefore, no frame.
So the police bust into his home, hauled him into custody, scaring the crap out of his wife and children, and searched everything. He was likely suspended from work, pending his clearing. And even after being cleared, there's no guarantee that the suspicion disappeared before the Dan guy was convicted. Not a frame? BS, it's the definition of a frame.
> So, I'm not going to waste any time getting into an argument with someone with deficient argumentation skills
Right, coming from someone whose debating skills amount to putting words into another person's mouth (or writing)
Now, just where did you read about "the police bust into his home, hauled him into custody, scaring the crap out of his wife and children, and searched everything. He was likely suspended from work, pending his clearing. And even after being cleared, there's no guarantee that the suspicion disappeared before the Dan guy was convicted."?
Seriously, where did you get that?
You seem to fabricate more and more fantasy as you go along . . .
> Right, coming from someone whose debating skills amount to putting words into another person's mouth (or writing)
I called it as I read it. You pointed it out as something commendable that he preyed on the strong rather than the weak. I responded that preying is never commendable, and that he prayed on plenty of weak people. So far you've done nothing to explain your position to me, except to throw profanities.
> Now, just where did you read about "the police bust into his home .." Seriously, where did you get that?
I didn't, but extrapolated it from the the way Dan was apprehended (by a SWAT team one time, though at no point is it mentioned that anyone considered him even remotely dangerous). I should have added "it's likely that ..". Fantasy? Perhaps - but what do you think happens to a security-systems-installer who's named as the perpetrator behind a multi-$100.000 hoist?
You called my post "a slew of crap". If that doesn't qualify as profanity, you still did nothing to rectify my apparent misrepresentation of your original post.
I learned about that type of client the hard way. She was the poster girl for a bad client, and I finally got rid of her by pricing her out. It was a big lesson, and I will never make the mistake of giving such a client the benefit of the doubt for a couple of months again. Ha! I was burned out for months after that nightmare.
Be on the lookout for such clients and cut your losses early fellows, it is simply not worth it unless the client in question is paying three times your rate, which bad clients never do anyway . . .
I have Asperger's and DSPS, and have noticed that taking Piracetam helps me regulate my sleep cycle. On days when I take it, I begin to feel sleepy right around my 16th hour of being awake. I have also noticed that when I have not had decent sleep for a few days, taking Piracetam puts me to sleep within a couple of hours of taking it.
I found exactly the same thing. I've had problems for years with roving sleep cycles to the point that it seriously interfered with my life. After I started taking piracetam it settled down within a week or two. I also wake up feeling completely refreshed and ready to go. I haven't seen this effect documented anywhere - it was completely unexpected.
It is good to know that you experienced this effect as well. I also have not seen it documented anywhere.
The stuff is simply great. I am in a third world country (Colombia) and in a backwater town to boot, and Piracetam is both readily available and inexpensive. What's more, it's a local generic brand, and the quality is very decent.
I think the issue is not so much that they exist, the issue is that they profit greatly from content created by others without paying said others a single penny.
That is a good point, and needs to be considered. From what I have read about their technology however, there are ways to substantially mitigate that risk.
I am glad to see people on this thread who can differentiate between the morality of what he did and the actual skill, balls, and sheer luck this guy had.
While I do not condone or advocate stealing from banks or anyone, well, the damn banks do not seem to have a problem with stealing from clients . . . where I live, the banks charge the local currency equivalent of FIVE US DOLLARS per deposit, even small deposits . . . I had to order a couple of PC parts a few weeks ago, and experienced it for myself . . . stood in line for 30 minutes (out of 8 teller windows, only 4 were manned, and this is in the middle of the afternoon on a weekday) and paid that much to deposit the local currency equivalent of 15 US . . . this is in a country where minimum wage is like $2 US per hour folks . . . someone has to be a straight sheep to criticize a person who steals from banks while not saying the same about the banks themselves . . .