True Crime Online
Page 1
True Crime Online
Shocking Stories of Scamming, Stalking, Murder, and Mayhem
J. A. Hitchcock
First Printing, 2013
True Crime Online: Shocking Stories of Scamming, Stalking, Murder, and Mayhem
Copyright © 2013 by J. A. Hitchcock
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review. Published by CyberAge Books, an imprint of Information Today, Inc., 143 Old Marlton Pike, Medford, New Jersey 08055.
While this book includes true stories, some names and details have been intentionally omitted to respect the wishes of certain individuals.
Publisher’s Note: The author and publisher have taken care in preparation of this book but make no expressed or implied warranty of any kind and assume no responsibility for errors or omissions. No liability is assumed for incidental or consequential damages in connection with or arising out of the use of the information or programs contained herein.
Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book and Information Today, Inc. was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been printed with initial capital letters.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hitchcock, Jayne A.
True crime online : shocking stories of scamming, stalking, murder, and mayhem / by J.A. Hitchcock.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-937290-00-9
1. Computer crimes--Case studies. 2. Cyberstalking--Case studies. 3. Online sexual predators--Case studies. 4. Murder--Case studies. I. Title.
HV6773.H576 2012
364.16'8--dc23
2012038252
Printed and bound in the United States of America
President and CEO: Thomas H. Hogan, Sr.
Editor-in-Chief and Publisher: John B. Bryans
VP Graphics and Production: M. Heide Dengler
Project Editor: Barbara Brynko
Cover Designer: Lisa Conroy
www.infotoday.com
For my husband, Chris,
who taught me how to love, laugh, and live again
Contents
Copyright
Acknowledgments
About the Website
Foreword, by Denise Brown
Introduction
Chapter 1
What Amy Boyer Didn’t Know Killed Her
Chapter 2
Deadly Love Triangle
Chapter 3
Don’t Preach to Me
Chapter 4
When Online Dating Victims Fight Back
Chapter 5
Just Trying to Help a Friend
Chapter 6
Stalking Ghosts
Chapter 7
How to Catch 700 Online Sexual Predators
Chapter 8
Guess Who’s for Dinner?
Chapter 9
The First Internet Serial Killer
Chapter 10
Swedish Phishing
Chapter 11
Virtually Bullied to Death
Chapter 12
YouTube as Witness
Chapter 13
They’ll Be Watching You … Online
Chapter 14
The Killer Inside
Chapter 15
When Revenge and Hatred Are Fueled Online
Chapter 16
Craigslist Killers
About the Author
Acknowledgments
Many thanks to the Portsmouth (New Hampshire) Police Department, especially retired Chief Lou Ferland, Police Chief Steve Dubois, and Sgt. Tom Grella. I signed up for their Citizen Police Academy and ended up learning so much about how law enforcement works, including fingerprinting, how mug shots are taken, the booking process, specialty teams like the K-9 units and local SWAT (called SERT), and beer “goggles.” I also attended various demonstrations and made many new friends. We visited other police departments in the area and even paid a visit to the Rockingham County Jail, which reinforced in me to never, ever commit a crime. Lou, Steve, and Tom’s patience with my seemingly endless questions for this book will never be forgotten!
Thanks to Jim Christy of the Department of Defense Cyber Crime Center for his help. I had to get a mug shot in person in Maryland, and he didn’t hesitate to do that for me.
Thank yous go out to all of the police departments and people who allowed me to use their stories and photos for this book. I couldn’t have done it without any of you!
A shout out to fellow writers Kate Flora and Margaret Press, who pointed me in the right direction when it came to getting all of the mug shots I needed.
Thank you to my editor, Barbara Brynko, for keeping me sane.
And a final thank you to my husband, Chris, who knew if he saw me typing madly to leave me alone, even if it meant that dinner would be late. He was my shoulder to cry on when I got frustrated, and he gamely listened to me when I told him about an interesting story I found online (at least I thought it was interesting). I married the best man ever!
About the Website
www.truecrime-online.com
For updates about the cases featured in this book and other information, visit the book’s website at www.truecrime-online.com.
To follow or participate in the discussion of the book on Twitter, follow the hashtag #netcrimes. Also connect with the book on Facebook (www.facebook.com/truecrimeonline).
Please feel free to share your own stories and comments with the author at netcrimes@netcrimes.net.
Disclaimer
Neither the publisher nor the author makes any claim as to the results that may be obtained through the use of this website or of any of the internet resources it references or links to. Neither publisher nor author will be held liable for any results, or lack thereof, obtained by the use of this page or any of its links; for any third-party charges; or for any hardware, software, or other problems that may occur as the result of using it. The website is subject to change or discontinuation without notice at the discretion of the publisher and author.
Foreword
I met Jayne Hitchcock over a decade ago while I was filming a TV pilot called Predators. It showcased several victims of online and offline crime, primarily those who were being stalked. Jayne was asked to participate because of her expertise and knowledge of the internet as well as her involvement with related legislation.
Stalking can be a terrifying experience for victims. It is a crime of power and control. The most common forms of stalking in the physical world involve excessive phone calls, following the victim in person, leaving presents or notes on the victim’s vehicle or at his or her home, sending letters via postal mail, making unexpected visits at the victim’s home or workplace, sending text messages, and actual surveillance. Often, stalking is an attempt to force a relationship with someone who is unwilling to have a relationship, whether or not there was any type of involvement beforehand.
Cyberstalking is a newer form of the same crime and is occurring more often in our society because of the advent of the internet. With cyberstalking, a person is followed and pursued online via email, blogs, social networking sites, instant messaging, message boards, webcams, chat rooms, and more. You name the medium and a cyberstalker has probably found a way to use it to pursue a victim. A victim’s privacy is invaded in what has become a 24-hour world. Not only can victims be stalked in person, they can be stalked online and via their cell phones, leaving them no chance to breathe or escape from the m
adness. Every movement can be watched. This type of harassment can disrupt the victims’ lives and leave them feeling extremely fearful and threatened. Many feel they have nowhere to turn for help.
Cyberstalking and online harassment generally involve men stalking women, and in other cases, adult predators or pedophiles targeting innocent children. With the internet, predators don’t need to leave their homes anymore to find or harass their targets. They have no fear of physical violence, since they believe that they cannot be physically touched in cyberspace.
The stories in this book are both frightening and real and depict things that can and do happen every day. They show us what can happen to people just like you and me, people who never thought they could become victims of online crimes.
Parents need to be aware of their children’s online activities to protect them from pedophiles and predators. We must also remind children that if they are being bullied or manipulated online, they should log off or block the person immediately or just ignore them altogether. They should also feel comfortable enough to confide in a parent or a trusted adult if someone is scaring them online.
The same holds true for adults; we need to remember that the online world has plenty of bad guys in it just as the real world does. We cannot ignore the vast online world, which can be very frightening at times. When the internet became more accessible to the general public in 1993, there were only 5,000 websites. As of March 2012, that figure has grown to more than 640 million, according to Netcraft.
I encourage everyone to learn what happens on the internet, good and bad, so we can teach our children how to be safe and smart online and keep ourselves safe too.
An online stranger may entice you or your child into a conversation by pretending to be a friend. We may not know who the person communicating with us really is, but we tend to trust too much. We want to believe that people have our best interests at heart, but unfortunately, this isn’t always the case, as you will read in the chapters that follow.
Because online crimes are real, the consequences can be life-transforming and even fatal. The emotional scars that result can persist long after the crime ends and can run the gamut from depression and anxiety to shame and loss of self-esteem. It’s not only the victims who feel a sense of hopelessness and vulnerability, but their families and friends as well.
When I was a child, I was one of six girls who used to run around the neighborhood from house to house. Neither our parents nor any of us felt threatened. Life wasn’t scary back then, and home was our safe haven. Today, our homes are not what they used to be. We must not let our privacy become permeated by evil. Let’s put an end to these heinous crimes. Let’s make our homes and communities safe again, online and offline.
Jayne, thank you for continuing to educate us and for doing everything to keep us safe.
Denise Brown
Advocate Against Violence
www.denisebrown.com
Introduction
The world has changed drastically over the past decade. The internet has played a huge part in that change, making the world more accessible to anyone of any age, race, or gender, wherever they live. From entertainment to education and from shopping to dating, the internet has provided an entirely new virtual world for everyone to enjoy. But it has also opened the door to criminals.
The internet is a breeding ground for murderers, kidnappers, child predators, scam artists, terrorists, hackers, and other criminals. In fact, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Internet Crime Complaint Center found that in 2011 a record-setting 314,246 fraud complaints were filed, a 3.4 percent increase from 2010, with a monetary loss for victims at a staggering estimate of $485.3 million, almost double from the previous year. The complaints filed included FBI-related scams as the No. 1 complaint, followed by identity theft, advance fee scams, nondelivery of merchandise and/or payment, overpayment of services, work-from-home scams, FBI impersonation scams, and loan intimidation scams.
Psychologists have argued for years about what makes a criminal tick. Why do criminals scam people? Why do criminals kill people? Why do they threaten, abuse, rape? The list goes on and on.
Some blame it on a bad childhood or a mental illness; others claim it’s the environment they grew up in. But it all comes down to this: No one can explain why some people become criminals, especially those who have absolutely no criminal past, no bad childhood, and no bad environment. Something inside of them just seems to snap.
The same applies to criminals on the internet, although some distinctions can be made.
There are scam artists who are out to get as much money as they can, who disappear and then reappear under another persona. This happens most often with online auctions, websites that offer free ads to sell items, spam (junk email) that have unbelievable products or services for sale, and the Nigerians who claim they have tons of money they want to share with you.
Then there are the people who have had relationships go sour and decide to take it out on another person online. This group includes not only ex-spouses and significant others, but family members, co-workers, fellow students, next-door neighbors, roommates—just about anyone who had a prior relationship with the victim.
Next are the cyberstalkers, who are much the same as offline stalkers: They are obsessed with their victims. You don’t have to be a celebrity to have a stalker anymore.
Then there are the organized cybercriminals, the ones who know the ins and outs of the internet and can wreak havoc on individuals, take down websites, infiltrate government computers, plant viruses, and create Trojans, causing unspeakable online torment.
The last group of cyberstalkers can only be defined as perpetrators of Internet Road Rage. On real highways, people sometimes become so angry at other drivers that they chase them and often end up causing an accident. What makes them do it? What is the trigger that makes them lose all self-control? The same thing happens on the information superhighway. These stranger-on-stranger cases can be as mundane as someone not liking another person’s username in a chat room, or getting upset because someone insulted an actor they like, or another perceived injustice. The cyberstalker taunts the user, gets a defensive reaction from the now-victim, which is perfectly normal, and then the harassment escalates. According to Working to Halt Online Abuse (WHOA), more than 30 percent of its cyberstalking cases in 2011 escalated to offline stalking.
You name it, it’s happened online, and if it hasn’t, chances are it will. Any part of the internet can be used against you. Just when you think you’ve seen it all, you’ll read or hear about a new incident that happened on the internet.
The chapters in this book cover just some of these incidents. A cyberstalker focuses his attention on an unlucky victim, one who does not even know it, in Chapter 1, “What Amy Boyer Didn’t Know Killed Her.” Love gone wrong online is detailed in Chapter 2, “Deadly Love Triangle,” followed by the story of an adulterer who sweet talks a woman (Chapter 3, “Don’t Preach to Me”) and another love story that turns into a nightmare for one woman (Chapter 4, “When Online Dating Victims Fight Back”).
A young woman is stalked online and offline by someone claiming to “love” her in Chapter 5, “Just Trying to Help a Friend,” and a famous ghost hunter becomes the target of a frenzied fan in Chapter 6, “Stalking Ghosts.” Two international stings are covered, one that nets child pornographers (Chapter 7, “How to Catch 700 Online Sexual Predators”) and another that catches online cannibals (Chapter 8, “Guess Who’s For Dinner?”). See who was “The First Internet Serial Killer” in Chapter 9. Read the story of woman targeted by a stalker across the ocean in Chapter 10, “Swedish Phishing,” and about when cyberbullies attack in Chapter 11, “Virtually Bullied to Death.”
Online videos cause chaos in Chapter 12, “YouTube as Witness,” and we learn how law enforcement uses the internet to catch criminals in Chapter 13, “They’ll Be Watching You … Online.” Chapter 14, “The Killer Inside,” delves into people who find a thrill in encouragin
g others to kill themselves. See how the internet wreaks havoc on the lives of several people in Chapter 15, “When Revenge and Hatred Are Fueled Online,” and finally, learn how online ads can turn deadly in Chapter 16, “Craigslist Killers."
So why do online criminals do what they do? There is no simple answer. For those people who have a criminal history, as with most scam artists, the internet is just a new medium to ply their craft. As technology changes, so do the tactics of these criminals.
Often, online criminals adapt to newer technology much more quickly than law enforcement does, which is an advantage for the criminals and a disadvantage for their victims.
Statistics show that the majority of online criminals are white-collar, do not have a criminal record, and are considered normal, everyday people. They’re married, single, divorced, or living with a significant other. They could be a lawyer, teacher, office worker, waiter, nurse, housewife, grandfather, or the kid who mows your lawn. They may be someone you never imagined could harm another person, online or off. Their neighbors usually only have good things to say about them.
I like to call this the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde syndrome. During the day, these people interact with others normally; then they go home, go online, and either have a target in mind to harass, stalk, or threaten, or they get involved in an Internet Road Rage situation.
In the old days, it would take more effort to commit a crime. You would have to actually go to a town hall or county office to get information about someone, and more often than not, you would have to pay for that information.
Today, the internet makes it so much easier to do the same thing, whether the victim is next door or in another country, and most of the time, the information is free. Once the campaign is launched against a victim, the majority of cybercriminals think they can keep their anonymity by using a free email account (such as Hotmail, Gmail, or Yahoo!) or a remailer (an online service that lets you send email messages through its website instead of through your email program), or by changing the From line in a message to an email address that doesn’t exist. But they are wrong.