A recent report by BBC states that a group named “Acrobat Thieves” used information from Instagram profiles of popular celebrities to plan their heists. The said group operated in Milan last year and included four members. They monitored the Instagram profiles of popular figures in Italy to gain information about when they were not at home. They then scaled the buildings, broke into their apartments, and stole various valuable items and even hard cash. This earned them the title of “Acrobat Thieves”.
The group analyzed the pictures to plan the best time to strike a victim’s house. They even managed to churn out the geolocations of the photos to know where the celebrities were during a particular time of the day. This aided in the success of their heists. The first report of the acrobat thieves came on June 6 last year. They stole $180,000 worth of items from a popular TV host, Diletta Leotta, in the country. The loot reportedly included jewelry, Rolex watches, and designer handbags.
Six months after the first incident, the group targeted another influencer named Eleonora Incardona. Apart from these two victims, footballer Achraf Hakimi was also a target of the acrobat thieves. As per Italian media, the gang stole nine bags, two belts, five scarves, two earrings, two brooches, a necklace, a bracelet, a wallet, a suitcase, and €1,000 in cash. The total amount of their loot reportedly went up to tens of thousands of euros.
So, after multiple reports of such cases, one suspect was arrested by the authorities in January of this year. The arrests of the other three members were recently reported by the authorities. This included the arrest of a 17-year-old member who will be appearing in Juvenile court soon.
