Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Teen Phone Phreak Targeted by the FBI

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the asking-for-trouble-and-giving-the-rest-of-us-a-bad-name dept.

Wired has an interesting editorial on the latest resurgence of the old days of phone phreaking and the latest phreak that is rising into the FBI crosshairs. The most recent hoax, "swatting", involves malicious pranksters calling police with reports of fake murders, hostage crises, or the like and spoofing the call to appear as though it was from another location. "Now the FBI thinks it has identified the culprit in the Colorado swatting as a 17-year-old East Boston phone phreak known as "Li'l Hacker." Because he's underage, Wired.com is not reporting Li'l Hacker's last name. His first name is Matthew, and he poses a unique challenge to the federal justice system, because he is blind from birth. If he's guilty, the attack is at once the least sophisticated and most malicious of a string of capers linked to Matt, who stumbled into the lingering remains of the decades-old subculture of phone phreaking when he was 14, and quickly rose to become one of the most skilled active phreakers alive."

7 of 431 comments (clear)

  1. Cops always think that way... by FatSean · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    ...they have too much power. I hope this kid beats the rap and the abusive powers we have given law enforcement are brought to the attention of the nation.

    Your scenario has already happened, and no phreak was involved. Incompetent pigs with too much firepower and the right to bust in with no knocking resulted in the death of a grandmother. They got the wrong house.

    I, at least, am not so pants-fillingly scared of the bogeyman that I want my law enforcement to have these powers.

    --
    Blar.
  2. There's nothing wrong with this kid by JudgeFurious · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    That couldn't be fixed in 10-15 minutes with a roofing hammer and a waterboard.

    --
    Appended to the end of comments you post. 120 chars.
  3. Re:Challenge? Why by plague3106 · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Really, so who's life did you put in danger for fun and now realize it wasn't funny? I knew at 10 it wasn't funny to seriously hurt someone. What took you so long?

  4. Re:What's the point...? by KiloByte · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    You see, there's a crime going on at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

    It's a good idea to send a SWAT team right away...

    --
    The creatures outside looked from Alt-Right to Antifa; but already it was impossible to say which was which.
  5. Re:At least... by Jaysyn · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Cause it's one person, it's ok. Real nice. Did you actually read any of the articles or was your head too far up your ass worrying about statistics to do so?

    Worthless, heartless bastard.

    --
    There is a war going on for your mind.
  6. Re:No kidding by dreamchaser · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    You are a troll and an idiot. Please explain how getting a SWAT team to go to a girl's house because she would not give him phone sex serves any greater purpose?

  7. Re:Nope, SWAT teams do this all the time. by Foobar+of+Borg · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Someone has been giving the authoritarians mod points lately, me thinks.
    I was wondering about that lately. It seems like the Bushbots have shitloads of mod points now. If anyone says anything even slightly critical of Bush or neo-Cons or the police, they get modded into oblivion. Perhaps Zonk or kdawson has developed a taste for fascism and Charlie Chaplin mustaches.
    --
    Similar to the upcoming US election results