|
?:reviewBody
|
-
Warnings about crooks handing out free key rings or key fobs that are actually small (solar-powered!) transmitters, used to track potential victims for later burglaries and carjackings, began circulating in August 2008: Aside from some technologically questionable aspects to these warnings, one prominent point of skepticism is the lack of obvious utility behind the scheme: that is, how would the ability to track unknown, randomly-selected motorists facilitate the commission of burglaries and carjackings? Especially since both of those crimes are overwhelmingly crimes of opportunity, engaged in as perpetrators spot or stumble across their chances, rather than crimes typically pursued through the elaborate staking out and tracking of targets. In this case we don't need to engage in any skeptical speculation, though, because we know the origins of this rumor. It began with the free distribution of completely innocuous, (light-activated) flashing key rings at gas stations in South Africa as a promotional device for gasoline retailer Caltex (a brand name of the Chevron Corporation), and the claims of criminal activity associated with those key rings are completely false: In a nutshell: Yes, in 2008 a South African gasoline retailer gave out free solar key rings; no, the key rings did not have transmitters and weren't being used by criminals to track potential victims. While our first sighting of the warning dates to August 2008 and places the suspicious activity in South Africa, numerous versions altering the nationality of the supposed bad guys and/or the country where the mayhem was taking place have surfaced since then:
(en)
|
![[This page as RDF]](http://data.gesis.org/claimskg/static/rdf-icon.gif){kind=icon}