Its just like with the headline cnn special - To Catch A Predator, criminals have seen it before.   The show COPS was famous for this and I'm sure Dog the Bounty Hunter and numerous other bounty hunters and police use sweepstakes and free offers to lure unsuspecting fugitives and wanted criminals out of hiding.

The amazing thing is that years later it still works.  Police throughout the country and U.S. Marshalls use flat screen TV's, XBOX 360's, Playstation 3's, hot new games like Starcraft II and Halo, etc... or even money to lure criminals out of hiding.

They make it look legitimate and place a few phone calls and even letters that look official to make the wanted fugitive or criminal think that its legitimate.  They even set up a date to bring the item they won and bring a wrapped box of the right size to lure out the suspected fugitive with minimal confrontation and violence.  Police actually prefer this method as it brings many suspects whom are usually armed and dangerous out with zero violence and limited risk for the police.

The use of modern gaming equipment like the Microsoft Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 and leading games has brought new life into this technique and method of entraping criminals and fugitives.  The new games are so hot a comodity that the younger generation felons desire to have the item outways their perceived value of risk.  And it works tremendously.  U.S. Marshalls have also found offers of hot games like Starcraft II and Halo to work, albeit the gaming consoles themselves have worked best.

 

Recently, in Dallas Texas, U.S. Marshalls lured over 100 fugitives out of hiding with this ploy of a free gaming system (the Xbox 360).  Due to the great results more similar offers and arrests will likely result in large cities throughout the U.S.  So if you are wanted for a crime and it's not a misdemeanor (police wouldn't waste their time like this for misdemeanors and other petty crimes) and you get a call or letter stating that you have won a new XBox 360 or similar gaming console or a large flat screen TV or some other big ticket electronics device, it may be the police or U.S. Marshalls coming to give you new bracelets (hand cuffs) and take you away.