Retired thief

by **Mad Mick** » 10 Jan 2005 21:11

After being AWOL for a while and just dropping in now and again, I came upon this thread this evening. Admittedly, I initially viewed the first post with a slight degree of skepticism, but started thinking about the amount of time that someone would be incarcerated for a major crime. This would explain the dated method for the 'old' Medeco's etc.

Does anyone really know who they are talking (typing) to? To use a fictitious number, 25% or more of the regular users here, not counting the lurkers, could have criminal intentions! Masterthief took the trouble to register as a user and was upfront & honest about his past, posting some possibly (probably) viable methods on older locks.

As pointed out by Pinky, some of the better security professionals were once on the wrong side of the law. Now that they have reformed, they contribute a very large amount of their knowledge towards closing the loopholes they exploited, and fore-seeing possible future loopholes.

The majority of the sarcasm and flaming seemed to have come from the noobs, who have a very long road ahead of them! The seasoned users usually monitor certain threads and make informed decisions before jumping into the lake with both feet!

Masterthief: I hope you stick around, either with your original name or a new name, and can contribute regularly. (Personally, I wouldn't blame you for changing your name...only the admin will know what your new name is)

To the flamers: If you were in the same position, would you be as up-front?

No offence directed at anyone in particular here.....
Mad

by **plot** » 10 Jan 2005 21:53

i agree with Mad Mick (i've been awol too and just happened upon this thread now... :oops:

)

this guy could very well be telling the truth in everything he says. he's probably long gone by now (back in prison?), would have liked to hear more about his methods of picking.

by **Sneak** » 21 Mar 2005 14:20

I don't know, anyone with the name "MasterThief" has to have a large ego. And anyone with a large ego might lie about himself. And a thief would never admit he was a thief even if he was retired. This does sound like bs mcm151201. But If it isn't... Hello I'm The Sneak

. and don't think I'm a hypocrite for calling myself "The" Sneak, that's just what my friends call me.
And sorry if you are the Master Thief you say you are but human beings naturally want to know the truth.

by **Sneak** » 21 Mar 2005 14:21

Wow I din't know this topic was so old. Oops...

by **maty68** » 21 Mar 2005 16:16

Maybe the guy has just run out of tricks. He could have been a 1 or 2 trick pony and after imparting his information simply run out of contributions. Personally i believe he's around 12 years old and was just filling the time in between the commercial breaks on the cartoon network.

by **maty68** » 21 Mar 2005 16:36

Just another thought....if from reading some of the posts, that good locksmiths or security professionals are ones from a criminal background, then how on earth did they ever work their way into a profession that is supposedly known to vigourously exclude such types. So why, given the nature of their personalities would they ever be able to operate under the supposedly honourable profession of locksmithing?

by **Mad Mick** » 21 Mar 2005 17:40

Watch the movie "Catch me if you can!", then rethink what you just wrote. These types of people think way ahead of the rest of us. Once on the right side of the law, the vulnerabilities which they used previously get corrected. Also, they are probably the best type of personality to come up with new defeats, then correct those.

by **plot** » 21 Mar 2005 18:12

Mad Mick wrote:Watch the movie "Catch me if you can!", then rethink what you just wrote. These types of people think way ahead of the rest of us. Once on the right side of the law, the vulnerabilities which they used previously get corrected. Also, they are probably the best type of personality to come up with new defeats, then correct those.

that the one with leonardo dicaprio or whatever? excellent movie. based on a true story too

by **maty68** » 21 Mar 2005 18:18

What i'm saying is, if the liciencing laws for locksmiths are so rigid then how could one with a criminal background possibly obtain a licience. Watching movies like 'Catch me if you can'(don't know what the movies about, but i am assuming its about some kind of burglar gone locksmith or something)won't make me feel any easier on the fact that my door lock could have been fitted by a once 'master thief'.

by **TOWCH** » 21 Mar 2005 18:29

What licensing laws?

by **Mad Mick** » 21 Mar 2005 19:00

Without going into the (true story) movie into great detail, basically the main character was a very intelligent young man, who uncovered ways to defraud a major airline into paying him a wage, by posing as a pilot (and travelling all over the place - he bluffed his way into getting the official uniform), and also using simple techniques to replicate the company paycheques.

To cut a long story short, he was eventually caught by the FBI and ended up working for them. His (legal) work has served to strengthen anti-forgery methods for many years. Previously, he educated himself as to what the numbers on the bottom of a cheque meant, and how/when they were processed, then used this information to keep a step ahead. After this information was discovered, banks changed their own sytems to cut down on this exploit.

These people are not likely to be installing the lock on your front door...but if they did, they'd probably be the most likely ones to point out that your other hardware needs looking at...like your door frame is loose and would only take one hard kick to get in. I'd prefer a reformed criminal to advise me on something, than to have myself left wide open.

These people are usually noticed by the authorities, from the methods they employ during their crimes, and are recruited as consultants within the relevant industries.

The movie is an excellent one to watch, as are most of the true-life ones...all these Matrix-style computer generated BS movies are fine for entertainment, but the ones where you can actually learn something factual are far more interesting.

by **maty68** » 21 Mar 2005 19:10

Yes i understand what you are saying, but surely there must also be capable locksmiths who have not gone this route. And please don't get me wrong, i am in no way whatsoever making judgements on anyone, just trying to make a point. The movie sounds interesting and i think i'll rent a copy.

by **Buggs41** » 21 Mar 2005 23:16

Then rent it. Watch it.

Report back after that.

by **kodierer** » 21 Mar 2005 23:45

Why are people still posting on this thread. I thought it died along time ago.

by **plot** » 22 Mar 2005 4:46

maty68 wrote:Yes i understand what you are saying, but surely there must also be capable locksmiths who have not gone this route. And please don't get me wrong, i am in no way whatsoever making judgements on anyone, just trying to make a point. The movie sounds interesting and i think i'll rent a copy.

Of course not all locksmiths started out as theives (almost none of them did).

What he's pointing out though, is the whole "know your enemy" concept. why do we put locks on our house? to keep burglers out. so... if the burgler is the one telling you what you need to do to keep him from getting in... you're gonna have a pretty secure house.

he's not saying find a reformed theif, he's saying don't discount what advice a former theif has to offer... as it could possibly be very good.

Retired thief

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