What's this swatting BS?!

[mmntech]

So butt hurt gamers are now calling in phony hostage situations into 911 to bully Twitch streams they don't like?! What a load of horse s---!

Incidents of so-called swatting pranks appear to be on the rise, as reports of what happened to Peters are becoming all too familiar in the gaming scene. And it was at least the second time since August that a swatting occurred during a Twitch broadcast.

Another incident was in November, when an executive for video game maker Bungie fell victim to a swatting when a hoax caller claimed an assailant had an assault rifle and was holding his family hostage in Washington. And last month, a GamerGate critic got swatted in Portland, Oregon.

St. Cloud police said they were investigating the prank that began with an emergency call to police that a gunman had killed somebody in the house and was still inside. Gunshots were heard on the call.

The gamer told the Guardian that, "before he knew it," he was face down.

"My channel’s not crazy big, like some of these other mainstream streamers. I just didn’t expect that. I was going upstairs, and before I knew it, my face was on a tile on the ground, hands wide open and a bunch of police officers with assault rifles," he said.

He said the officers were familiar with the swatting prank.

"When we were all laying down, I spoke out. I said 'I stream on Twitch.TV, I’m being swatted, and someone probably prank-called this.' And then the tone shifted as soon as I said 'I’m streaming on Twitch.TV.'"

The video of the swatting had more than 29,500 hits as of Friday.

Peters, who did not immediately respond to Ars for comment, was almost the victim of another swatting, hours later, he said. Police got another call allegedly from one of his family members who said Peters was suicidal about the raid. The authorities vetted out the prank call before responding with force.

He said he didn't understand why he was the target.

"There’s no possible persons who I can think would do something like this to me... I’ve seen this happen to other streamers, I just never thought I would be the one to get randomly targeted. Never."

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2015/02/gamer-gets-swatted-while-streaming-before-60000-viewers/

I feel genuinely sorry for this guy. He's a US Air Force vet who was recently flown back from Kuwait on a medivac, only to get his home raided by armed men. That's enough to give anybody some serious PTSD.

 

[MongGrel]

I'd hope they would trace the 911 calls and prosecute the hell out of em.

 

[chimaxi83]

I don't know what the consequences are for the wastes of space that do this, but they should be extremely severe. What would happen if one of these victims are in their home and think their house is broken into, and get their legal guns to defend? They'd be destroyed, and the risk of collateral damage inside a house of unsuspecting people is very real.

These are the f*cktards whose mothers should have swallowed them.

 

[sandorski]

Thread from August of a Swatting caught on camera.

 

[mmntech]

They caught one of the buggers. Not for this particular case, but another incident in Illinois. Hasn't gone to trial yet, but this punk is looking at up to 5 years in prison for his shenanigans. Who's lulzing now.
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...ng-prankster-famed-god-arrested-in-las-vegas/

 

[chimaxi83]

They caught one of the buggers. Not for this particular case, but another incident in Illinois. Hasn't gone to trial yet, but this punk is looking at up to 5 years in prison for his shenanigans. Who's lulzing now.
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...ng-prankster-famed-god-arrested-in-las-vegas/

Wow, literally a neck beard. I hope they throw the book at him, a harsh example needs to be made.

 

[mizzou]

This stupid shit will get someone killed. Imagine sitting in your house and hearing the door get kicked in. It's not hard to think that this could turn into a shooting based on a huge misunderstanding.

911 abuse should be given an extremely harsh penalty.

 

[Jodell88]

Celebrities got swatted as well. It has nothing to do with gaming in particular.

 

[ImpulsE69]

Having a disdain of streamers and not caring about them, how are people getting their addresses and why would they send in a swat team to an anonymous call to a residential area w/o some sort of recon? Do these people not have any sense of privacy or do they just blast out everything about themselves on the internet?

 

[sze5003]

Having a disdain of streamers and not caring about them, how are people getting their addresses and why would they send in a swat team to an anonymous call to a residential area w/o some sort of recon? Do these people not have any sense of privacy or do they just blast out everything about themselves on the internet?

I'm wondering the same thing, why would anyone put that stuff out on the internet unless the people calling the police on them are hackers or somehow get their information. These idiots should be put in jail for 10 years to learn a lesson. Before a raid info is usually gathered, people are watched, I'm not sure maybe they call in tips on the streamers as time goes by.

I know if someone busted down my door randomly they would get hit by some hollow points.

 

[Sulaco]

Having a disdain of streamers and not caring about them, how are people getting their addresses and why would they send in a swat team to an anonymous call to a residential area w/o some sort of recon? Do these people not have any sense of privacy or do they just blast out everything about themselves on the internet?

Because someone calls up and says something along the lines of "I have a rifle and ammunition and 3 kids in the house and I'm going to kill them all!!" and hangs up.

Seriously, what do you want?

9-1-1: "Can you prove it?



When threats like that are made (and those are usually the the "swatter" threats being phoned in), what do you expect them to respond with?

 

[ImpulsE69]

Because someone calls up and says something along the lines of "I have a rifle and ammunition and 3 kids in the house and I'm going to kill them all!!" and hangs up.

Seriously, what do you want?

9-1-1: "Can you prove it?



When threats like that are made (and those are usually the the "swatter" threats being phoned in), what do you expect them to respond with?

The first time someone dies because of it, that is exactly what will happen.

Also, on further thought. They know where a number is coming from. If the area/city code aren't similar, I would say that calls something into question. I do see your point however and really hadn't considered what exactly they were saying to set something like this in motion to begin with.

 

[MrPickins]

The first time someone dies because of it, that is exactly what will happen.

Also, on further thought. They know where a number is coming from. If the area/city code aren't similar, I would say that calls something into question. I do see your point however and really hadn't considered what exactly they were saying to set something like this in motion to begin with.

That can be spoofed.

 

[mmntech]

I'm wondering the same thing, why would anyone put that stuff out on the internet unless the people calling the police on them are hackers or somehow get their information.

The police report said he had hacked online gaming accounts to get personal information.

However, it's not hard to find someone's address and phone number provided you can find their real name and the city they live in. That can be easily scraped from social media or simple carelessness on the victim's part. If they have a landline telephone, everything else you need is publicly available.

From there, you can spoof the number to make it appear that the call was being made from the victim's residence. Which in itself is illegal.

A lot of people on the article have accused the cops of overreacting. Which is true to a degree in that they should gather more intel before busting down doors. Though when you're called to a supposed horrific crime in progress, you're faced with few options. The danger here is that either someone innocent is going to get killed by police, or police are going to go the opposite route and be too cautious. Which could be equally as deadly if a real case isn't taken seriously.

That's why this dirt bag neckbeard has to be punished to the fullest extent of the law. Make an example out of him as a warning to others.

 

[cmdrdredd]

I've read about stuff like this before and I don't know where this idea came from to begin with. When did it become a thing to make a false 911 call on someone else?

 

[pathos]

Though when you're called to a supposed horrific crime in progress, you're faced with few options. The danger here is that either someone innocent is going to get killed by police, or police are going to go the opposite route and be too cautious. Which could be equally as deadly if a real case isn't taken seriously.

Pretty much this, exactly.

Either scenario is going to tie someone's underwear into a knot, there literally is no correct answer.

 

[mmntech]

I've read about stuff like this before and I don't know where this idea came from to begin with. When did it become a thing to make a false 911 call on someone else?

According to Wikipedia (my bible) the FBI started using the term back in 2008. They busted some punk a year later for it, and he's still serving an 11 year sentence.

This article on Psychology Today is particularly relevant to this topic. Which only confirms what we already strongly suspected. These trolls show narcissistic, sadistic, and psychopathic tendencies in personality tests.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blo...rolls-are-narcissists-psychopaths-and-sadists

They're bold, lack empathy, enjoy cruelty, and are self-obsessed. Which would explain why they're so willing to go to such extremes to take revenge on the most trivial of offences.

They fall into the category of a Cluster B Personality Disorder. Specifically anti-social personality disorder.

 

[pathos]

They're bold, lack empathy, enjoy cruelty, and are self-obsessed.

So you're saying if they didn't do this swatting, they'd end up as a ceo of a major company making millions of dollars a year in salary

On only a slightly more serious note, this actually sounds like most of the people alive today, really. Lack of empathy, narcism, the desire for attention, the internet is full of this stuff. Harder to find people who aren't like this than find people who are. I blame the internet

Though I've gotten a bit off tangent for a game forum, heh

 

[Super56K]

"Illinois prosecutors said charges Wilson faces include computer tampering, intimidation, and identity theft."

They're missing a charge that should be a part of all cases where someone is arrested for sending an on-edge, armed to the teeth tactical unit to kick in a person's door on false information: attempted murder.

 

[BoberFett]

They caught one of the buggers. Not for this particular case, but another incident in Illinois. Hasn't gone to trial yet, but this punk is looking at up to 5 years in prison for his shenanigans. Who's lulzing now.
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...ng-prankster-famed-god-arrested-in-las-vegas/

Only 5 years? Should be longer.

 

[Aikouka]

"Illinois prosecutors said charges Wilson faces include computer tampering, intimidation, and identity theft."

They're missing a charge that should be a part of all cases where someone is arrested for sending an on-edge, armed to the teeth tactical unit to kick in a person's door on false information: attempted murder.

I'm certainly not a lawyer, but I don't get all these "it's attempted murder!" claims. At least from everything that I've seen/read, pointing a gun at someone with intent is usually classified as assault with a deadly weapon.

 

[mmntech]

I'm certainly not a lawyer, but I don't get all these "it's attempted murder!" claims. At least from everything that I've seen/read, pointing a gun at someone with intent is usually classified as assault with a deadly weapon.

What you charge, and more importantly, what you can convict someone on all boils down to intent, the mens rea.

For an attempted murder charge, you'd have to prove that the accused had intended to kill the victim but otherwise failed. Which doesn't sound like the case in these swatting incidents. Assault is also difficult to prove for the same reason. Any defense lawyer would claim the accused only wanted to scare the victim. All you need to do is established reasonable doubt to get a not-guilty verdict.

Which is why you see these swatters being charged with fraud, uttering threats, and various computer crimes. It's far easier to prove.

I'd probably charge them with criminal harassment as well. In Canada, it's an indictable (felony) crime punishable up to 10 years in prison. To get a conviction, you'd have to show the accused intended to harass/stalk the victim. Though apparently laws in the US vary state by state.