Cow makeovers stop taxi crime, for a while

A taxi driver from Chile has his taxis decked out in a black and white cow motif. The idea being that the cabs are so garish and distinctive nobody will want to steal them. The scheme appears to be working, but like most schemes of this kind there is a catch, if everyone was to copy this strategy interior decor in synthetic cow hide would no longer be unusual and the deterrence value would be lost. [Video BBC News]

This is the reason why 'it works for me' does not mean that a scheme is going to be generally applicable as a plan to foil phishing or spam or other Internet crime issue of the day.