Bangalore: The advent of social media has made the world a much smaller place than it used to be, and more so for crime. But with criminals increasingly taking to social networks, Facebook has proved to be a powerful tool to help catch them.

UK police reported a 540% increase in Facebook crimes over the past three years, according to the Criminal Justice Degree Guide, most of which could be attributed to the fact that most people who used Facebook more than once a day were 43 percent more likely to think that people could be trusted.

The Guide created an infographic that showed 20 crimes that were infamously committed, or caught via the world’s largest social network, from the most recent to the oldest.

Here are the 20 crimes depicted by on the infographic:

1. The case of the stolen Air conditioners

Date: October 31, 2011

Person on Facebook: Sheriff Al Lamberti

The sheriff used Facebook to help catch people who were stealing Air Conditioners in Florida’s Broward County. He posted a description of the suspects on Facebook and got a call from 911 that helped him arrest the criminals.

2. Cyber-stalking and Computer trespassing

Date: April 28, 2011

Person on Facebook: Underage girls

Pre-teen American girls were charged with first degree computer trespassing and cyber-stalking after they hacked into a classmate’s Facebook account and posted sexually explicit content on her profile.