"SWATing": Fraudulent 911 callers create havoc

[SRS131EMTFF 471]

Here is an article I found on "SWATing":

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/T/TEC...EMPLATE=DEFAULT

Has anything like this happened in Westchester? These are truly malicious, a waste of resource, felonious, dangerous games that some internet idiots are playing with potentially deadly consequences.

[helicopper 1,050]

It has happened in Westchester but fortunately nobody was hurt and I believe that the offender was apprehended.

[Tapout 42]

The article is no longer there... do you have another link? Or just paraphrase the jist of the article. I have no idea what SWATing is, outside of smashing bugs. (joke! No one get offended and jump on me, please! LOL!)

[jack10562 414]

The article is no longer there... do you have another link? Or just paraphrase the jist of the article. I have no idea what SWATing is, outside of smashing bugs. (joke! No one get offended and jump on me, please! LOL!)

Basically,

It's the illegal activity where criminals and pranksters call in a fake 911 in hopes of drawing a response from law enforcement, usually a Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team.

Google has several hits on the topic of SWATing

[jfmuller 23]

In the field of information security, swatting is an attempt to trick an emergency service (such as a 911 operator) to dispatch an emergency response team. The name is derived from SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics), one type of such team.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swatting

Basically with new technology such as VOIP people get the idea that they can do whatever they want and not get caught. It is devastating to the victims, and I would hope all that engage in this behavior are caught and prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

How would you like to be sitting at home with the kids in bed, watching your favorite TV show, and someone calls 911 making it look like the call is coming from your home, with a hostage situation, perp has a gun?

[Tapout 42]

WOW. Thanks (all of you) for the clarification. Can these calls get traced back to the source of them, even with cell phone useage being so popular now? I cannot imagine being the victim of something like that. This did happen to someone I believe on Long Island or Queens a few months or a year back. Dragged out of his house and cuffed in front of his family- something about a report of a barricaded perp in his house that was entirely fabricated.

Seriously, wow.

[DaRock98 76]

WOW. Thanks (all of you) for the clarification. Can these calls get traced back to the source of them, even with cell phone useage being so popular now? I cannot imagine being the victim of something like that. This did happen to someone I believe on Long Island or Queens a few months or a year back. Dragged out of his house and cuffed in front of his family- something about a report of a barricaded perp in his house that was entirely fabricated.

Seriously, wow.

If I remember correctly from the article these people were using some sort of Internet based phone line that a fake address would come into the 911 centers so if the call was made from say some address in New York they would have the computer give a California address. I also believe they said that the police started to trace the IP address from the computer to track these people down.