A New York teenager has tracked down the boy who mugged her by using MySpace to start an online relationship with the criminal.

Yudelka Polanco, 16, had her mobile phone snatched by two teenagers while walking home.

However, one of the muggers used the phone's Sim card to get internet access and revealed his email address.

Polanco used the information to find his MySpace page but it was kept private for friends only. She convinced a friend to start flirting with the boy so that she could access his full page and get enough information for the police to act.

"I told her to request him because his page was private information so I could get a better picture of him," she told CBS News.

The two amateur sleuths then went to the police who were able to arrest 16 year-old Victor Hernandez. The youth is accused of a series of muggings in the area.