Facebook locks creator out of Chicago Stolen Car Directory page
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Thousands of people use a Chicago Facebook group to help try to find their stolen cars, but now the group's founder is suddenly silent. He says the social network banned him from making any more posts after he shared video of an attempted robbery in the city.
His online followers tell CBS 2's Sara Machi this could cause real problems.
Matt Nalett has spent countless hours and hundreds of thousands of miles winding slowly through Chicago streets and back alleys looking for the signs of stolen cars.
"I get my hunches," he said. "And when I get a hunch, I'm usually correct."
He says he started this hobby in 2020 when thieves were hitting fellow Uber drivers. Eventually he amassed a following and created the Chicago Stolen Car Directory on Facebook with more than 31,000 followers.
But all of it came to a screeching halt this week.
"Automatically got suspended. Thirty days," he said. "I'm like, 'Are you kidding me right now?'"
He says he was temporarily blocked from making more posts because he shared surveillance video of an off-duty Chicago Police officer who shot and killed a man during an apparent robbery. He says Facebook told him it violated "community standards." But the video comes from the Civilian Office of Police Accountability -- for police transparency.
And he says there is no way to get a real person on the phone.
"Man, you try to email Facebook. Good luck," he said.
Nalett took CBS 2 on one of his rides, checking the license plates of cars he thought might be stolen.
After we parted ways he made a discovery -- an Infiniti reported stolen more than two years ago. It's one of thousands, he says, that he and his group have recovered.
"It just slows down any potential victim now for the next 28 days from being able to find their car," said Anthony Tausig, a victim of vehicle theft.
Tausig says he turned to Nalett in November, even paying him for the work that helped him find his stolen Hyundai Elantra.
"It's basically silencing one of the only resources that's out there right now," he said. "If we didn't know sooner, we probably would have been hit with more bills. Because that was the thing. The fees for the impound lot, they racked up."
Nalett says he's continuing his work in social media silence for the next 28 days, passing along information to people who can post on his behalf. It's work he believes supports Chicago Police.
"They got other stuff going on in the city," Nalett said. "You got robberies and drive-bys and shootings and everything else in the sun. Those are way more important than somebody's journey or (other car)."
Nalett says he discourages people on his page from offering any kind of reward for finding stolen cars because he doesn't want to offer incentive for the people who might be stealing them.
CBS 2 reached out to Meta, Facebook's parent group, about the issue. Meta has not responded.
Nalett also manages the website stolencardirectory.com
