1y ago

YouTube, Discord, and Lord of the Rings Led Police to a Teen Accused of a US Swatting Spree

www.wired.com

YouTube, Discord, and ‘Lord of the Rings’ Led Police to a Teen Accused of a US Swatting Spree

For nearly two years, police have been tracking down the culprit behind a wave of hoax threats. A digital trail took them to the door of a 17-year-old in California.

There was a story posted a day or so ago about a teen getting arrested for multiple Swatting attacks. This story from Wired explains how the authorities tracked him down and pieced everything together.

23 comments

The sheriff’s office said the teen created several accounts on websites offering swatting services
Now this is the real story. You can hire out to swat people? This is fucked up.
- as always, the real real story is, why the fuck, after all these years of SWAT teams being misused this way, do they still respond in full force to anonymous calls without checking the "target" first?
  
  Because of the huge threat that is faked, SWAT Teams MUST respond.
  These assholes usually tell police that the victim's location has a terrorist threat or someone is planning to assassinate politicians via anonymous call systems that were put in place to protect witnesses to actual crimes. It wastes police resources, makes actual threats seem fake, and puts the lives of everyone involved in a raid in danger.
  Its like a twisted form of the Boy Who Cried "Wolf!" But the boy calls the someone else a wolf and the villagers who show up have guns and a history of shooting everybody's dog
  
  I think I’ve been desensitized to the point of not being surprised when police use inappropriate force and too little reason in the course of their jobs.
  
  Job security? I would imagine the "shoot first, ask questions later" favors issues where there are no survivors.
  
  Did your ever read the Boy Who Cried Wolf?
  
  That one episode of Darknet Diaries on swatting made me think they’re not the best idea.
- Apparently, yeah. The Wired article I linked doesn't mention that part, just how they pieced his illegal activities together. So, I'm unclear if he used those services or was providing them.
- The real SaaS right there.
He barely hid yet it took that long to arrest him. He wasn't even trying to hide his IP.
- No one ever accused the police of being good at their jobs.
More than a year before the swatting attack on the Florida mosque, agents with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation interviewed Filion’s father, William, at his home in Lancaster, California, according to court documents made public on Wednesday. The interview took place on April 21, 2022, the same day the owner of a Telegram channel linked to swatting activity posted, “SOMEONE JUST REPORTED ME TO THE FBI… LOL!”
That's a special kind of stupid.
Every one has guns. Sending armed police out to a possible dangerous situation is a shooting disaster waiting to happen. This kid/17 year old really should know better. Shame on him. Hope he learns from this and becomes a better person...it could happen.

23 comments