presence
11-20-2012, 12:25 PM
A 19-year-old Alabama man was indicted for sending an entire town’s police force on a wild goose chase to the home of an online gaming rival in Texas.
Stephen Sherwin Stepho of Tuscaloosa, AL, was indicted on Nov. 14 by a federal grand jury and charged with making an interstate threat in an increasingly common and dangerous prank that U.S. law enforcement authorities have come to call “swatting.”
“Swatting” involves using 911 emergency services to fraudulently dispatch law enforcement, and particularly Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) squads, based on what have been falsely represented to be emergencies, said the FBI.
“Swatting” has become a pernicious prank since the rise of Internet Protocol, or IP-based telephone services, which can make it easier to fool dispatcher’s caller ID systems. The deception has been used to phone in bomb threats, fake murder reports and other serious crimes, with the prankster usually tying the telephone number of their target to the call. Since the calls can involve reports of extremely serious dangers, a massive emergency response can result, and can put authorities, as well as the unsuspecting victim in dangerous situations.
According to the federal indictment, Stepho, who operates under the Xbox Gamertag “NuBlom,” allegedly fraudulently dispatched the entire on-duty police force of The Colony, TX, to a residence in the town, which is located just north of Dallas.
The indictment didn’t specify how many of the city’s police personnel responded, but the community of over 40,000 located on the eastern shore of Lake Lewisville in north Dallas has 53 sworn positions and 28 civilian employees, according to its Web site.
As a result of the call, according to the indictment, the Colony’s “entire on-duty police force responded to what it believed was an emergency.”
Stepho allegedly threatened The Colony resident with “swatting” unless the resident paid him $500 for a pair of fraudulent Xbox Gamertags, said the FBI. When the resident failed to do so, Stepho allegedly disguised his caller ID, or “spoofed” the number, to make it appear that he was placing a call from inside the residence in The Colony. He called 911 claiming two intruders had entered the residence.
If convicted, Stepho faces up to two years in federal prison, said the FBI.
http://www.gsnmagazine.com/node/27858?c=law_enforcement_first_responders
related:
Anonymous: #ProjectMayhem2012
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?396124-Anonymous-ProjectMayhem2012
Stephen Sherwin Stepho of Tuscaloosa, AL, was indicted on Nov. 14 by a federal grand jury and charged with making an interstate threat in an increasingly common and dangerous prank that U.S. law enforcement authorities have come to call “swatting.”
“Swatting” involves using 911 emergency services to fraudulently dispatch law enforcement, and particularly Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) squads, based on what have been falsely represented to be emergencies, said the FBI.
“Swatting” has become a pernicious prank since the rise of Internet Protocol, or IP-based telephone services, which can make it easier to fool dispatcher’s caller ID systems. The deception has been used to phone in bomb threats, fake murder reports and other serious crimes, with the prankster usually tying the telephone number of their target to the call. Since the calls can involve reports of extremely serious dangers, a massive emergency response can result, and can put authorities, as well as the unsuspecting victim in dangerous situations.
According to the federal indictment, Stepho, who operates under the Xbox Gamertag “NuBlom,” allegedly fraudulently dispatched the entire on-duty police force of The Colony, TX, to a residence in the town, which is located just north of Dallas.
The indictment didn’t specify how many of the city’s police personnel responded, but the community of over 40,000 located on the eastern shore of Lake Lewisville in north Dallas has 53 sworn positions and 28 civilian employees, according to its Web site.
As a result of the call, according to the indictment, the Colony’s “entire on-duty police force responded to what it believed was an emergency.”
Stepho allegedly threatened The Colony resident with “swatting” unless the resident paid him $500 for a pair of fraudulent Xbox Gamertags, said the FBI. When the resident failed to do so, Stepho allegedly disguised his caller ID, or “spoofed” the number, to make it appear that he was placing a call from inside the residence in The Colony. He called 911 claiming two intruders had entered the residence.
If convicted, Stepho faces up to two years in federal prison, said the FBI.
http://www.gsnmagazine.com/node/27858?c=law_enforcement_first_responders
related:
Anonymous: #ProjectMayhem2012
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?396124-Anonymous-ProjectMayhem2012