As most of the world knows by now, Kardashian, 35, was robbed of her jewellery early Monday morning Paris time. The star was in France for Paris Fashion Week. It is believed five men took part in the robbery, two of whom, dressed as police officers and wearing masks, entered the apartment and put a gun to her head. The men did not speak English but kept saying “ring.” Kardashian was tied up and left in the bathroom while the robbers made off with jewellery having an estimated value of $10 million.
After she was freed, Kardashian was interviewed by police and then immediately flew back to the United States and her husband Kanye West. Although she was badly shaken up over the experience, the 35-year-old was not physically injured.
A police spokeswoman said the robbery was planned and Kardashian was probably targeted because the vast amount of expensive jewellery she had was shown on social media sites such as Instagram and Twitter. Kardashian has 84.2 million Instagram and 48.3 million Twitter followers. While certainly plausible, the police are working hard to say Paris is a safe city and the robbery of the high-profile star could have happened anywhere.
While in Paris, Kardashian was constantly posting to social media; the last post was made about an hour before the robbery. One post showed her sitting on a couch wearing a bathrobe, giving the impression she was probably alone in the apartment. She was. Her bodyguard, Pascal Duvier, was out with Kardashian’s sister Kourtney.
One picture posted on Instagram a few days before she was robbed was a close-up of her left hand showing the ring, valued at around $3 million, that was given to her by West. She was not wearing the ring when she arrived back in the U.S.
Brian Calkin, with the Center for Internet Security, said sending out constant social media messages indicates where a person is. Even if Kardashian was not geotagging her photos and videos and had the location functions on her smartphone turned off, the numerous posts allow people to figure out where she was. As Gizmodo reports, Kardashian and West always stay in the same apartment when they are in Paris and the building has unusual windows. The location and the fact she was there when the robbery occurred could have been ascertained from pictures Kardashian posted on social media.
This is not the only theory about the robbery. Her former bodyguard, Steve Stanulis, blamed Kardashian and referred to the robbery as “a publicity stunt.” Even if it was, that does not detract from the dangers of posting too many personal details on social media.
