The perils of Internet crime

When Concordia student Patrick Parent had his knapsack stolen last week, he simply considered himself a victim of a routine petty crime. Then, three days later, he received a threatening e-mail from the thief demanding money in return for his stuff. "I know everything about you," the e-mail read.

Parent alerted police, but the cops made it clear his case wasn't a priority. However, Parent's stalker hadn't even bothered to use a Hotmail address, so he decided to check some directories on the Web; in no time, Parent knew which city he lived in (St-Jean-sur-Richelieu), how old he was (16), and his name (withheld). He then sent a pleasant but coy e-mail back back to the boy, mentioning what he knew and saying he was willing to travel to St-Jean to pick up his knapsack.

That's when things got really weird. "When he found out I knew his name, he wrote me back saying he'd sue me if I didn't stop harassing him." The boy later agreed to return the knapsack; Parent told the boy to call him. That was five days ago; Parent is still waiting.

In the meantime, says Parent, "I may decide to show up at his door one morning. I just have to figure out which house is his--there are 12 addresses with his last name in the St-Jean phone book."

--Philip Preville