China Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 Teen pleads guilty to 23 charges of swatting, harassing online game rivals On Wednesday, a Canadian 17-year-old pleaded guilty to 23 charges relating to swatting calls and other false police reports, many of which had targeted his online opponents in the video game League of Legends. According to a lengthy report by Canadian publication Tri-City News, the prosecution's case against the Coquitlam, British Columbia teenager asserted that the teen (whose name wasn't released due to his age) targeted "mostly young, female gamers" who declined or ignored his friend requests on LoL and Twitter. The most notable example was an University of Arizona in Tucson college student who'd dropped out after she and her family members had been victimized by repeated swatting calls (including this nearly simultaneous attack on both the woman and her parents), financial information theft, "text bombs," false cell phone service orders, and intrusions into her e-mail and Twitter accounts. According to prosecutors, the months of attacks against this woman began on September 16 when the teen called Tucson police as if he were at her address, "claiming he had shot his parents with an AR15 rifle, had bombs, and would kill the police if he saw any marked vehicles," the report stated. The report also mentioned an incident on December 1 in which the teenager posted an eight-hour video stream of himself making fake bomb and ransom threats to various police stations. Ars was able to locate an archive of this video which included the same Grove City, Ohio police call described in the Tri-City News report (the specific, offending snippet can be found here). In that call, which he made using Google Voice, he described a hostage situation in which he had bound and gagged a family, was (again) wielding an AR15, had planted "six bombs" around their home, and demanded a $20,000 ransom. The user, who identified himself in the video as a member of Lizard Squad and went by the handles "obnoxious" and "internetjesusob," was arrested eight days later in his hometown of Coquitlam. That arrest, according to a Polk County Sheriff's Office press release, came after local authorities were tipped off about two fake bomb threats he'd called into an Orlando-area high school in September and October—which he'd called in after telling his "juvenile" victim, "I am going to swat your school." The case against this swatting teen was stacked with even more stories of false reports, including him admitting to having called in a 2013 bomb threat to Disneyland that targeted its Space Mountain ride. The attacks described in the Tri-City News report targeted victims who resided almost exclusively in the United States, including other swatting and financial fraud incidents in Minnesota, California, and Utah. The report described the teen's apparently remorseless appearance at the Wednesday hearing: "Wearing a sweatsuit, no shoes and shackles on his ankles, the teen smirked but showed little emotion during the proceeding, though often flipped his hair, drummed his fingers on his knees or pumped his leg quickly." He will return to the same Coquitlam court on June 29 for sentencing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renegade7 Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 Over a video game? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 Wondering if my ignorance of what a "swatting call" is, means I'm old, or just American. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
China Posted May 22, 2015 Author Share Posted May 22, 2015 Wondering if my ignorance of what a "swatting call" is, means I'm old, or just American. I think old. I had never heard the term before either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Predicto Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 Wondering if my ignorance of what a "swatting call" is, means I'm old, or just American. It's making a fake call to bring down the SWAT team on some poor sap. I didn't think anyone actually did it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rictus58 Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 It's making a fake call to bring down the SWAT team on some poor sap. I didn't think anyone actually did it. I could be mistaken...but did this happen to a few celebrities in the past year or two? Edit: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/celebrity-swatting/ Anyway....this kid is clearly in need of a mental health expert. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AsburySkinsFan Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 Wondering if my ignorance of what a "swatting call" is, means I'm old, or just American. Old....I have never heard of it either. This isn't over a video game, most of his attacks are gender based. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tshile Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 Yeah swatting is done quite a bit due to the ease with which you can spoof the number you're calling from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExoDus84 Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 I'm glad this arrogant turd is going to get what's coming to him. It's a very serious matter. People can get killed this way. I know the last thing I'd want is for some on-edge, trigger-happy SWAT officer kicking in my door. This happens a lot, actually. Raging internet nerds that have nothing better to do with their time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renegade7 Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 Old....I have never heard of it either. This isn't over a video game, most of his attacks are gender based. Mostly concerning female gamers that wouldn't accept his friend requests on a video game. I probably didn't put enough words in my initial reaction after reading the OP, but that was my initial reaction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AsburySkinsFan Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 Mostly concerning female gamers that wouldn't accept his friend requests on a video game. I probably didn't put enough words in my initial reaction after reading the OP, but that was my initial reaction. Yeah, the video game was just the vehicle, this kid is showing some serious anti-social, anti-women tendencies. He's one to keep an eye on. The question will obviously be asked, "what happens when a girl that is close to him rejects him?" Will he escalate? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
balki1867 Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 Swatting: Making a 911 call while spoofing your location information to appear that you're in a different place and indicating there's some ongoing situation at that spoofed location that would typically be handled by the SWAT team. The net result of swatting is that the victim is sitting on their couch watching American Idol when the SWAT team busts in with guns drawn, thinking they're about to engage with some heavily-armed psycho. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger.Staubach Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 If I was half awake and my door got busted in by a bunch of people in all black, I might mistakenly fire at them (which would result in my death). Scary stuff that kid is doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoony Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 If I was half awake and my door got busted in by a bunch of people in all black, I might mistakenly fire at them (which would result in my death). Scary stuff that kid is doing. That's racist Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 Just kinda related to this whole "swatting" theme:Am I the only person who thinks we need to make it impossible to spoof a phone number? (Or at least, a whole lot harder than it apparently is?) I don't answer the home phone any more, because nobody calls the home phone but scammers and fraudsters of various degree. (From the "I'm calling on behalf of the Florida Troopers Association" to "I'm Microsoft Tech Support") But if I'm bored, sometimes I do Google the phone number that comes up on Caller ID. I probably get 3-5 criminal phone calls a day, And probably 4/5 of them are calling from spoofed phone numbers. Many of them aren't even in the country. Somehow I'm pretty sure that it wouldn't be that tough to make it impossible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zazzaro703 Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 This has been a huge problem in the online gaming communIty and im glad someone actually got brought to justice over it to maybe stop others from doing it in the future. Its just ****ed up, calling the police and telling them there is a hostage situation at someone who isnt expecting it. It is only a matter of time before someone gets shot and killed over this insanity. Truly a horrible crime that young dip****s without any empathy for others commit. Just sick.... These people need to be removed from society. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tshile Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 Am I the only person who thinks we need to make it impossible to spoof a phone number? (Or at least, a whole lot harder than it apparently is?) No, you're not. Spoofing caller ID and location data isn't just used for swatting, it's used for identify theft purposes too. There are other malicious purposes as well. This is why you do not, under any circumstance, give anyone any meaningful information over the phone when they called you. If it's your credit card company and they need to discuss something, you tell them you'll hang up and call them back using the number on your card. Get an extension or a ticket # or whatever you need to. That's the only way to make sure you're talking to who you think you're talking to (and even that's not fool proof) I had someone from capital one call me one time and I refused to confirm any information and she got really pissy. Was quite funny. She got even more mad when I berated her for not understanding the seriousness of identify theft and spoofed caller id's while working for a financial institution... That said - good luck. Teleco's are among the worst companies in the world, top to bottom. From customer service, to billing, to upgrading equipment or just keeping it running, i've *never* seen so many problems with so many different companies in any specific field. Telecos and ISP's are the absolute worst and they get away with it because they have a monopoly on the industry (despite courts already breaking it up once... we've wound up back where we were...) So, you're absolutely right, but yeah - good luck getting it fixed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zazzaro703 Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 Online is one of the few areas i would be willing to sacrifice some of my freedoms so its a better experience for everyone. I wish you would have to do something to get online that would enable people to become accoubtable for their actions online. All the hacking, stealing and just all around general bull**** that is the result of being anonymous online has got to be changed somehow. Unfortunately, i do not have any solutions and it is not an easy area to clean up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Springfield Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 Youtube swatting for some interesting results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tshile Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 Unfortunately, i do not have any solutions and it is not an easy area to clean up. Neither does the government, but they're going to try real hard to come up with (a terrible) one for us its still very much the wild west. lack of control is what made the internet great, and what is likely going to ruin it for us all too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
balki1867 Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 I don't answer the home phone any more, because nobody calls the home phone but scammers and fraudsters of various degree. (From the "I'm calling on behalf of the Florida Troopers Association" to "I'm Microsoft Tech Support") But if I'm bored, sometimes I do Google the phone number that comes up on Caller ID. My parents are getting older (my mom retired a few months ago), and I'm alarmed everytime I'm back home about how often their phone rings. A significant number of the calls are scammers trying to sell them something bogus. I'm not sure if its the fact that they're older or just that scammers are generally on the rise. Either way its absolutely infuriating that these people exist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Springfield Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 My parents are getting older (my mom retired a few months ago), and I'm alarmed everytime I'm back home about how often their phone rings. A significant number of the calls are scammers trying to sell them something bogus. I'm not sure if its the fact that they're older or just that scammers are generally on the rise. Either way its absolutely infuriating that these people exist. It should be illegal. If it ever comes to cell phones em masse like it is with land lines... Ehrmergerd. I would blow a gasket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Bay Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 I didn't know what swatting was either. I wonder if this is going to be tied into the gamergate thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tshile Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 I wonder if this is going to be tied into the gamergate thing. It's a guy going after gamers that women/girls, so it probably will be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 It should be illegal. Actually, it is illegal. (Well, a lot of the ones I get are illegal. "Microsoft Technical Support" and "Rachael from Cardmember Services" leap to mind.) And frankly, I have trouble believing that it's all that difficult to prosecute them, either. For example, both "Microsoft Technical Support" and "Rachael from Cardmember Services" get their money by charging sucker's credit cards. The DA may not have a record of where the phone call came from. (Although I have trouble believing that it's all that tough for them to find out, either. Yeah, it might be easy to spoof Caller ID, but somehow I suspect that if that was, say, a kidnapping ransom call, they'd have the ability to know exactly which piece of copper that phone call traveled through, every step of the way, within minutes.) But there's a record of where the stolen money went to. Wanna put a stop to "Microsoft Technical Support"? Next time they phone a cop, have him play along. Fall for the scam. Give them his credit card number. Then go seize all of the money in that bank account. Because all of it was obtained through fraud. Order the credit card companies to return the money of all the credit card charges that are pending. Somehow, I suspect that doing that would be relatively easy, and would at least make these scams a whole lot less profitable. But then, I'm a Trekkie. I believe that simple solutions exist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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