Far Out Friday: Facebook for the mob

Brokers are increasingly told they need to leverage social media for their business, but if your business is organised crime you might want to think twice

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Brokers are increasingly told they need to leverage social media for their business, but if your business is organised crime you might want to think twice.
 
One Palermo, Italy, mobster, Domenico Palazzotto, 28, created a Facebook page under a false name, posted photos of himself cruising on motorboats, sitting down to sumptuous lobster and champagne dinners and riding in a limousine.
 
The rising boss, who allegedly helps run extortion rackets, listed his liking for Neapolitan music and the US singer Kenny Loggins and name-checked an Italian TV series about the Mafia.
 
But between bragging about his lifestyle and mocking police, Palazzotto found time to recruit.
 
"Do I need to send a CV?" a potential applicant asked.
 
"Yes, brother," Palazzotto replied. "We need to consider your criminal record. We do not take on people with clean records."
 
He’s even trying to improve his employer branding: "Join my team.. We are the strongest, ha ha ha."
 
Unfortunately for Palazzatto and his mobster friends, it seems his fondness for social media could backfire on him.
 
"The new generation are using Facebook, texts and WhatsApp to show that they are going to the best discos, beaches and restaurants, because they believe that is key to earning respect. The problem is that makes you traceable and they are getting arrested,” an anonymous investigator told the Daily Telegraph.

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