back to article Brazilian cops hunt pillaging 'gang of blondes'

Brazilian cops have cuffed two members of the so-called "gang of blondes" - a pack of she-devils who allegedly carried out up to 50 express kidnappings in Sao Paulo between 2011 and 2012. The group - led by Wagner de Oliveira Gonçalves and his wife Monique Awoki Casiota - are accused of targeting visibly affluent female …

COMMENTS

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  1. Francis Boyle Silver badge

    Worked in telemarketing

    Let her off. She's obviously working towards going straight.

    1. Bumpy Cat
      Happy

      Re: Worked in telemarketing

      Yeah, working in telemarketing then turning to crime is incorrect - it's switching one type of crime for another!

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      please please

      Take me hostage!

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    why not have a second "under duress" pin code

    then if threatened give a working pin number that does hand out money but also sets off a sequence of threat-related actions - such as capturing images at cashpoint machines, car and mobile phone tracking etc, that can only be stopped by a trusted third party verifying that the cardholder is safe and well.

    1. Alister

      Re: why not have a second "under duress" pin code

      because you just know that the average punter (who has enough trouble remembering One pin, let alone two) will at some point type in the wrong one, or, more likely, will not remember the alternative pin at the crucial time due to brown-trouser issues.

      1. Owain 1
        Meh

        Re: why not have a second "under duress" pin code

        I thought that there was some plan to have it as being your existing PIN in reverse. That way you don't have to try to remember it. I.e. if pin = 1234 then panic = 4321. Note ATM gives out the money in any case.

        It would seem reasonable to have a low impact panic system such as having the card blocked for the next x hours (after the panic transaction completes), rather than squirting ink in the face of the user. That way, the mugger knows they have the right PIN, but they can't use the card again. They would have to hold onto the mugee for x hours until the card became free, or else Mugee would raise alarm. Also having got 1 'amount' of money out (i.e. the panic transaction) they would be more inclined to just chuck the card away.

        So more of a damage limitation for both customer and bank... Also means mugee can give out PIN without having fingers broken etc.

        1. iCode86

          Re: why not have a second "under duress" pin code

          "I thought that there was some plan to have it as being your existing PIN in reverse. That way you don't have to try to remember it. I.e. if pin = 1234 then panic = 4321.... "

          Because some people may have reversible PIN's, e.g: 1221, 7777, etc.

          1. squilookle
            Facepalm

            Re: why not have a second "under duress" pin code

            ^This

            ...and the fact that if the PIN were reversible, the mugger might just call your bluff and enter the PIN you gave them backwards, thus entering the correct PIN and rendering the under duress pin pointless.

            Also, if the consequences of entering the under duress pin were that cash was dispensed the first time but then the card was blocked, would the kidnappers not keep hold you you until the second transaction and then break your fingers anyway for giving them the wrong pin?

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: why not have a second "under duress" pin code

      Because then people would *use* it. And banks would then be liable for what happens to the victim when an angry mugger gets a face full of indelible dye from a cash machine.

      It's easier just to tell the user to "Never ever give out your PIN to anyone else".

    3. Michael 28
      Coat

      Re: why not have a second "under duress" pin code

      you can.... in the uk, and possibly elsewhere, if you key in your code backwards, you still get the money, but it flags up a distress message for the security team at the bank.

      Got my coat... now wheres my pants and wallet.!!!

  3. PhilipN Silver badge

    They chose the wrong target

    Girls who look like her do the same thing - maxing out credit cards etc - to visibly affluent blokes every day and never get arrested.

  4. any fule
    Happy

    Hmm

    Why do I feel a Playmobile reconstruction is in the offing?

    1. Lester Haines (Written by Reg staff) Gold badge

      Re: Hmm

      Hmmmm...

    2. jukejoint

      Re: Hmm

      Exactly! quit playin' around with your boffin buddies and snap it up!

  5. jake Silver badge

    Blonde?

    Carina Geremias Vendramini isn't blonde. Not by any stretch.

    1. perlcat
      Black Helicopters

      Re: Blonde?

      Clearly, you've never been to Tortuga.

      In Brazil, she passes for platinum blonde, as do most people the rest of the world would call 'brunette'. It's a cultural/relative thing.

      1. jake Silver badge

        Re: Blonde?

        Yes I have, and no she doesn't.

        Ever look up the root of the word "roots"?

  6. Michael H.F. Wilkinson Silver badge
    Coat

    Brazillian policemen chasing blonde women?

    is this unusual behaviour?

    Sorry, I had to ask. Mine is the one with the ticket to Rio in the pocket.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Prison life will do them good

    Scumbags!

    1. GitMeMyShootinIrons
      Paris Hilton

      Re: Prison life will do them good

      Must put mental images of hot Brazilian blonde babes in a host steamy cell out of my head. It's even more distracting than posting on El Reg.

      Paris - she knows what blondes in a cell should do...

  8. An ominous cow herd
    Headmaster

    Hey Lester!

    Brazilian lingo is portuguese, not spanish, so it's currency's (the "real" ) plural is "reais" and not "reales".

    You're welcome!

    1. Marcelo Rodrigues
      Happy

      Re: Hey Lester!

      Yes! Yes! We speak portuguese, not spanish! And don't get me started with all this "Buenos Aires" nonsense!

      1. Geoff May

        Re: Hey Lester!

        OK, I'll bit, what "Buenos Aires" nonsense?

        1. Geoff May

          Re: Hey Lester!

          or bite, as the case may be ...

          1. Chris Miller

            Re: Hey Lester!

            I thought Portenol was now the lingua franca of South America (if that makes sense).

            1. perlcat
              Pint

              Re: Hey Lester!

              I believe that 'mas cerveza, por favor' is the phrase that is recognized throughout latin america.

              I find it useful, anyway.

        2. Marcelo Rodrigues
          Happy

          Re: Hey Lester!

          Ah, that's a joke. You see, for one reason or another, a huge number of people believe that Buenos Aires is the capital of Brazil. And this is incorrect. The capital of Brazil is Brasilia - Buenos Aires is the capital of Argentina.

          Come to think of it, I believe it would be most the north americans who believe this...

          And we (brazilians) speak portuguese - not spanish. :D

    2. Lester Haines (Written by Reg staff) Gold badge

      Re: Hey Lester!

      É certo, mas a maioria dos nossos leitores não sabe a diferença, e o "real" é mais facil entender.

      1. stuartnz
        Headmaster

        Re: Hey Lester!

        Only El Reg would get away with being so dismissive of the intelligence and linguistic abilities of its own readership. I'm sure that there would be plenty of El Reg readers like me who, although not speaking Portuguese, had no trouble reading what Lester wrote about us, without any need to resort to Google Translate or the like.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Hands up

    Did anyone else Google the names and come up with lots of Brazilian FaceBook links?

    Anon for the obvious reason!

  10. Stevie

    Bah!

    Kidnapping is at epidemic levels in Brazil according to one of my friends who now lives there. I suppose it's what happens when you have very disparate standards of living and insufficient funds in the old Law Enforcement piggy bank.

    1. perlcat
      FAIL

      Re: Bah!

      Couple that with a culture of corruption. Seems like the more oppressive a nation's laws, the more money there is to be made by selling out.

      Being poor, relative or otherwise does not make criminals, and saying that denigrates a lot of very good people. I know plenty of very poor people that would and do literally go hungry rather than take what's not theirs. Crime being viewed as acceptable is what makes criminals.

      I have apprehended far, far, far more wealthy shoplifters than I have poor ones. They do it for the thrills.

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Bad sales... bad

    Let's just get this over with and extend the philosophy to 'all sales is bad' after all customers will just 'appear' handing over the money to pay our wages. We just need to hang out a sign.

    Alternatively of course we can pay our wages via the traditional start-up method of conning the investors/banks/pension funds etc. that works out well.

    1. perlcat
      Facepalm

      Re: Bad sales... bad

      Was that supposed to be in English? Unable to parse this.

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Big Brother

    Finally! The inspiration for my masterwork!!

    "Burgling Blonde Babes of Brazil"!!--my future in cinema is assured!!

    Move over, Plan 9......because Big Brother is not the only one who will be watching!!

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Crackheads the whole bunch

    What a waste of humanity.

  14. Great Bu

    Life after the X-Factor

    I did wonder what happened to Wagner after he was (unjustly, he was easily the most talented one) booted off the X-Factor........

  15. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Could have been worse...

    Ever seen Linda Fiorentino in The Last Seduction.

    making the term "Take no prisoners" more than a marketing cliche.

  16. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    In the end all ends well

    Hey they can play all they want in prison.

  17. J 3
    Happy

    Hm...

    ...and you guys apparently haven't gotten wind of the "gang of grandmas" yet! Still at large.

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