A woman has revealed the four words you should avoid searching on Google to ensure the police don’t make an unexpected visit to your home.
Michele Catalano and her husband, from Long Island, New York, were looking for everyday household items in 2013 when they unexpectedly ran into problems.
Recounting the events following the incident, he wrote on his blog at the time: “Googling certain things was creating a perfect storm of terrorist profiles.”
Michele, a freelance writer, wanted to order a pressure cooker while her husband looked to buy a new backpack.
This led them to carry out separate searches online for the items they both wanted, an exercise that would not normally cause police alarm.
A woman has revealed the four words you should avoid searching on Google to ensure the police don’t make an unexpected visit to your home (File Image)
However, her husband typed keywords for both items from his work computer two days later, just before leaving his job.
IT staff flagged the searches, which his former employer reported to the local Suffolk County Police Department.
This was raised by staff due to the actions of the people allegedly responsible for the Boston Marathon bombings earlier that year.
In the incident, which took place during the annual Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013, two people planted two homemade pressure cooker bombs that detonated near the finish line of the race, 14 seconds and 210 yards away. .
Three people were killed and hundreds injured during the attack, including 17 who lost their limbs.
Following the couple’s inadvertent Internet search, several black SUVs stopped at the couple’s home to make sure they were not a terrorist threat.
So, if you don’t want the police showing up at your door, don’t look for the four words: “pressure cooker bomb” along with the word “backpack.”
After the couple’s involuntary search on the Internet, several black vans stopped at the couple’s house to make sure they were not a terrorist threat (File image)
Michele described the surreal experience on her blog saying that her husband ‘saw three black SUVs in front of our house; two on the opposite sidewalk and one stopped behind my husband’s jeep in the driveway, as if to prevent him from leaving.
Following security concerns, Suffolk County Police released a statement saying: “Suffolk County Criminal Intelligence detectives received a tip from a Bay Shore-based computer company regarding suspicious computer searches conducted by an employee recently. released”.
Michele wrote on her blog: ‘Mostly I felt a great sense of anxiety. This is where we are. Where you have no expectation of privacy. Where trying to learn how to cook some lentils could land you on a watch list.
He added jokingly: “All I know is that if I’m going to buy a pressure cooker in the near future, I’m not going to do it online.” I’m afraid. And not the right things.