[Ads-l] "swatting"

[Nancy Friedman]

"Swatting" has been in circulation since at least 2007. I wrote about it in April 2013, when the comedian Russell Brand was targeted:

http://nancyfriedman.typepad.com/away_with_words/2013/04/word-of-the-week-swatting.html


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Nancy Friedman
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-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Mandel [mailto:thnidu at GMAIL.COM] 
Sent: Friday, March 27, 2015 10:27 AM
Subject: "swatting"

Evidently = *making a false report of a dangerous situation that brings a police SWAT team to a specified location, with the purpose of harassing the people at that location*. *May involve spoofing telephone number to appear that the report.*


*13-year-old Minecraft player confesses to swatting, police say* <http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/03/13-year-old-minecraft-player-confesses-to-swatting-police-say/>
"There were 20-plus officers there... We basically surrounded the house."
<http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/03/13-year-old-minecraft-player-confesses-to-swatting-police-say/>
by David Kravets - Mar 27, 2015 12:50pm EDT

A 13-year-old Southern California boy has confessed to three different swattings, one in which he threatened to blow up a house with hostages in a suburban neighborhood, police said Friday.

"The Camarillo incident there were 20-plus officers there. I was at that call. We basically surrounded the house. The caller reported there were 10 hostages in the house and demanded $30,000 in cash or he would blow up the house," Det. Gene Martinez of the Ventura County Sheriff's Department said in a telephone interview with Ars. "Whenever there is a hostage situation, we activate specialized units to respond."

...

The IP address that the VOIP calls originated from in the New Jersey incident was traced to the boy's Camarillo, California residence. There, the authorities found phone spoofing software on a computer.

...

Swatting has seemingly become a national phenomenon in the world of online harassment, with gamers calling police and claiming heinous crimes are underway. The calls usually prompt armed SWAT teams to arrive at the scene.
Often, the emergency call appears to be coming from the innocent target's address.

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