Phone Hacking Group Is Trading Fake Bomb Threats For Bitcoin (softpedia.com)

An anonymous reader writes: French police arrested a suspect in connection to a group of hackers that are selling fake bomb threats for Bitcoin. The group has been terrorizing cities in France, UK, USA, and Australia for months. Police suspect they are doing this by using a anonymity XMPP service to hack into VoIP phones and make the fake bomb threats and swatting calls. The group is charging $5 worth of Bitcoin for schools and company headquarters, $10 worth of Bitcoin for courthouses and entire school districts, $20 worth of Bitcoin for sports events and major conventions, and $50 worth of Bitcoin for "major" sports events. Additionally, for an extra $5 worth of Bitcoin, the group would also frame someone else for the incident.

Comments

I think you dropped a decimal

[xxxJonBoyxxx]

>> for an extra $5 worth of Bitcoin

I think you dropped a decimal. If not, these criminals are dumber than they sound: stealing a pocketful of candy at the neighborhood store is $5 worth and won't land you in prison.

>> are selling fake bomb threats

And what's a "fake bomb threat"? (A "bomb threat" is one where someone calls in claiming to have planted a bomb.) Is a "fake bomb threat" where someone just pretends to make a call...?

Re:I think you dropped a decimal

[PopeRatzo]

I think you dropped a decimal. If not, these criminals are dumber than they sound

They make up for it in volume.