Just 15 years ago, reading the following lines would have meant you were perusing science fiction, not anymore :

...criminals were using online virtual worlds to communicate and transfer funds around the world.

...federal and state police had deployed resources to investigate virtual world money laundering....

...there were "a variety of means of online communication that criminals can engage in and also a variety of methods of laundering funds and ... virtual worlds create opportunities for both of those for criminal groups".

"What identity do you have? A game tag? There are cases of people buying others' online gaming identities..."

Mr Dyson would not comment on whether NSW Police had infiltrated any criminal groups operating in virtual worlds other than to say that NSW Police had an "ongoing presence..."

The Full Story Is Here

The Bullet That May Bring Down The NSW Government

Reality, always so much more WTF? than fiction can ever be.

From today's Sydney Morning Herald :

The Neutral Bay property developer and loan shark Michael McGurk may have been killed because he was in possession of a tape that had potential to bring down the NSW Government.

The audio tape is understood to contain revelations about the bribing of senior government figures.

The head of the homicide squad, Superintendent Geoff Beresford, described the killing as ''very targeted''.

Police said Mr McGurk had died as a result of a single bullet wound to the head while his son Luke sat in the passenger seat of his black Mercedes-Benz saloon.

One bullet. It certainly sounds professional.

A week before his death, McGurk told Sydney Morning Herald journalist Kate McClymont (excerpts) :

...he had reason to believe that a person, whom he named, was planning to have him killed.

...he confessed to making recordings, which he claimed to have made legally, with a well-known Sydney man. When pressed he hinted at corruption involving Labor politicians, both state and federal.

McGurk later became expansive, providing the Herald with a detailed list of names to investigate.

...he had been told there was a plan to have him killed and he was extremely anxious as he believed the person had the means to carry out such a threat.

He concluded by saying that by the end of the week he hoped to be able to hand something over to the Herald, which would enable us to see the ''whole picture''.

He was killed before he could hand over to the Herald what he had.

These events will obviously plunge the NSW Labor government into further chaos, as they vault from Melrose Place shenanigans to being linked to something grimly reminiscent of The Sopranos.

The obvious question, besides who ordered the hit and who carried it out, is : Where Is The Tape?

And did McGurk make copies of the allegedly incriminating tape and distribute them to trusted friends or lawyers to make public if the threats against his life were carried out?

The Sydney Morning Herald sounds like it's sitting on one hell of a story, one that could bring down the NSW government. Or more accurately, finish it off.

The (Perhaps) Perfect Crime

Was this rip-off inspired by some crime flick I haven't seen? There doesn't seem to be any news stories archived online where this caper has been pulled before, at least not in the past few years. It's stunningly simple, scarily so.

A car dealership in Liverpool, New South Wales, Saturday morning, before opening time. Thirteen men walk in, confront the three employees, assault them and each man climbs into an unregistered car and drives away. The thirteen cars are believed to be worth as much as half a million :

The thieves' haul included one white and two blue VW Golfs, a black Mitsubishi Lancer, a grey Holden Barina, a white Mitsubishi Triton, a black VW Passat, a black Subaru Impreza, a white Mazda 3 and one black and one green Holden Commodore.

You'd imagine the copycat potential for this, anywhere in the world, is extremely high. Though, rounding up thirteen people to pull a job like that points to very well organised criminals, lots of rehearsal (no crashes as they try to get the cars out of the dealership as quickly as possible) with a way of getting the stolen cars off the street, or out of the country, very quickly.