Italian Thieves Use Instagram To Steal From Rich Celebrities' Homes

21/02/2021

A gang of four thieves in Italy used social media networks, or Instagram as the most notable, to know more about their targets, know what to steal, and to monitor the movements of their victims to avoid being caught while in the act.

Mainly targeting celebrities, they are called the "Acrobat Thieves" as a result of their skills, in which they can scale apartment buildings and street poles to gain access to their targets' homes.

When engaging on their targets, the men, aged between 17 and 44, would dress like how the socialites in order to blend into the neighborhoods of their targets. CCTV footage of one theft shows one gang member enters the window of a first-floor apartment.

“He put on latex gloves and quickly climbed up a pole and towards a window on the first floor, forced it open and entered the home,” the Milan prosecutor Francesca Crupi said, adding that the thieves are “young and fit guys dressed like they were going to a Milan nightclub.”

When one of the thieves managed to get in, he will open the front door of the home for his two other accomplices, while one would stay outside keeping watch.

Together, they would then stuff their loot into a suitcase owned by the victim before fleeing.

Diletta Leotta, Eleonora Incardona, Achraf Hakimi.
(left to right) Italian television presenter Diletta Leotta, Instagram influencer Eleonora Incardona, and Moroccan professional footballer for Inter Milan Achraf Hakimi. (Source: Instagram)

Before finally got caught, the thieves managed to get away with several Rolex watches, as well as some other luxury goods.

The authorities said that the thieves followed their targets on the social media.

By stalking them, they can keep track of their targets' movements and activities.

This was done using geolocation data from the Instagram posts, among others.

Through Instagram, the gang can also get the idea of the inside of their targets' homes, to even determine the type of windows they had, as well as the security systems being used.

This allowed them to plan and construct their strategies.

The police said the series of thefts began back in June 2020, when €150,000 worth of goods including jewelry, designer handbags and Rolex watches, was stolen from a home of Italian TV presenter Diletta Leotta.

Six months later, in December 2020, the gang used the very same method to break into the home of Eleonora Incardona, an influencer who has almost 500,000 followers on Instagram, and also Leotta's former sister-in-law.

At her home, the gang stole nine Chanel and Louis Vuitton designer handbags, two belts, five scarves, a wallet, a suitcase, and €1,000 in cash. The thieves also got away with some jewelry, which included two earrings, two brooches, a necklace, and a bracelet.

Marco Calì, chief of the Milanese police unit that led the investigations, said that Incardona “had posted pictures in which she showed where she kept her bags, her nice shoes,” and “that was an assist” for the criminals..

In total, the loot was worth tens of thousands of euros.

“For me it’s important to share,” said Incardona, who made her living sharing her daily routine. “Looks like the thieves also appreciated my pictures with my pretty things,” she noted.

The gang was also suspected of being behind the culprit behind the theft of several expensive watches belonging to Achraf Hakimi, the footballer who transferred to Inter Milan from Borussia Dortmund in September, and had been living in temporary accommodation at the time of the theft in November.

The police have managed to retrieve most of the loot.

While it is said that the south of Italy is famous for its mafia, some of Europe’s most accomplished thieves were from the northern part of the country, which includes Milan, the second-most populous city in Italy after Rome..