True Crime Online Newsletter- June 15, 2015
I couldn't make this up if I tried. . . Indiana police chief toys with phone scammer
http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2015/06/1
An Indiana police department shared video of its chief having some fun with a phone scammer who took a few minutes to realize he was being played. Danville Police Chief Bill Wright said he was in the car with his wife when he got a call from an unknown number saying he had "been selected by the federal government to receive a grant of $7,000." Wright filmed his conversation with the scammer and it was shared on YouTube and the police department's Facebook page. "The government checked all your accounts and you have been a low taxpayer so this is like a tax refund which you never, ever have to pay back in your whole life," the caller says, while Wright's wife struggles not to laugh. Wright later said he recognized the call as a scam right away and decided to play along, often screaming in mock joy and shouting "I won!" The caller tells Wright to take down a number and visit the nearest Western Union, where a supervisor would supposedly help him claim his cash. The scammer realizes he's being played about three minutes into the conversation. "You can stick that $7,000 up your [expletive], okay?" the scammer says. Wright said he saw the situation as an opportunity to raise awareness of phone scams in his community. "It was done as much to let people know what's going on as much as we did it for fun. ... They absolutely picked the wrong person," Wright told WXIN-TV.
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Visit WHOA on the web at http://www.haltabuse.org
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NEWS TO USE AND PASS ALONG!
(DISCLAIMER: The following news items were found on the web and were not written or endorsed by WHO@; they are for informational purposes only)
Reddit's Subreddit Ban Highlights One Thing: Fighting Harassment Is Tricky - 06/13/15
http://readwrite.com/2015/06/13/red
This week, Reddit admins have decided to ban five subreddit forum communities that, it says, are in breach of the site's rules and regulations. Clicking through on the blacklisted subreddits now leads to a holding page announcing the ban. The five subreddits in questionfour of which have under 5,000 memberscover controversial attitudes towards race, gender and weight. Reddit says that the forums broke the site's new harassment rules, which were introduced last month.
Agony of the parents trolled over their dead baby: Grieving couple were branded liars as they mourned death of newborn daughter - 06/12/15
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art
An internet troll has been given with a lifetime restraining order after he attacked a grieving couple online over the death of their baby daughter. Michael Murphy, of Ludlow, Shropshire, wrote a string of abusive blog posts about the parents of baby Kate Stanton-Davies, who died after medical blunders by doctors.
Signs of backlash to Internet trolls appearing - 06/12/15
https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/2015/0
If you don’t spend much of your valuable earth-time gazing into Reddit, Facebook, Twitter, 4chan, or any of the Internet’s other habitats for social media trolls, lucky you. For the rest of us, trolling remains a stubborn reality of Internet life. Broadly speaking, a “troll” manifests as a more aggressive strain of the “hater,” a typically anonymous figure posting objectively offensive or abusive content, often repeatedly, and often targeting other users by goading them into defensive responses. Whether the troll actually believes in the purported premise of the trolling is almost beside the point. The act of trolling trumps any ideological end game it serves: The noun, at heart, is the verb.
Twitter's block list export to enable en masse blocking of trolls - 06/12/15
https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2015/0
Twitter's ever-growing toolkit for handling harassers might do the job for normal people, but those who get caught up in harassment campaigns like Gamergate can get stuck in an endless game of whack-a-mole, overwhelmed by hundreds of harassers as tormenters pull cohorts in on coordinated attacks and put up new accounts as fast as they can be closed down.
Give it back like Vishakha Singh: Here's how to deal with creepy guys online - 06/12/15
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/g
A couple of days ago, Fukrey actress Vishakha Singh received a sexually explicit message on her profile from one MD Mustakim Saifi, who wrote on her wall , "Nice looking & nice b**bs'. But instead of ignoring him she decided to give it back in her own way. Have a look at how she responded.
Jurors hear about scene of shooting in cyberstalking case - 06/12/15
http://www.stardem.com/ap/state/article
Jurors in the federal cyberstalking trial of relatives of a gunman who killed his former daughter-in-law at a courthouse in 2013 heard witness testimony about the victim’s last moments Friday. Former optometrist David Matusiewicz; his mother, Lenore Matusiewicz; and his sister, Amy Gonzalez, are charged with conspiracy and cyberstalking of David Matusiewicz’s ex-wife, Christine Belford. They could face life in prison if convicted of stalking that resulted in her death.
Fighting online bullies leaves tech firms caught between a rock and a hard place - 06/11/15
http://venturebeat.com/2015/06/11/fight
One of the biggest challenges facing any social platform is abusive trolls, and Internet companies are increasingly having to tread a fine line between supporting freedom of speech and censoring abusive and threatening content. Yesterday, Reddit the popular social news site that lets users submit, discuss, and “upvote” articles and anecdotes announced it was removing five subreddits (topic-specific sub-sections) deemed to be conducive of harassment: r/fatpeoplehate, r/hamplanethatred, r/transfags, r/neofag, and r/shitniggerssay.
Victim reveals how her life was shattered by her ex-partner who became her cyber bully - 06/11/15
http://www.northampton-news-hp.co.uk/Vi
A victim who suffered cyber bullying at the hands of her ex-partner broke down in tears today recalling her traumatic experience. The woman who does not want to be named or identified had her privacy and her life shattered by her ex-partner who in her words was 'very possessive'. She was speaking at the launch of a new initiative launched by Northamptonshire Police to tackle cyber stalking and online abuse which will mean better protection for domestic abuse victims.
Miranda Cosgrove Stalker goes Cyber: Continues to terrorize in cyber space; Imprisonment for 4 years waits - 06/11/15
http://www.vcpost.com/articles/73552/20
Joshua Stockton, Miranda Cosgrove's stalker, is in trouble for his indecent act towards the actress through - cyber stalking. He is reportedly on his big break from the hospital where he was confined for some psychiatric issues thus given a reward because of his good act; yet right after he has been rewarded, went all the way to contact Miranda Cosgrove's friends to get a chance to know the actress's whereabouts and updates.
Verona man charged with cyber stalking sheriff's office - 06/10/15
http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/cr
Bond has been set at $100,000 for a Verona man for allegedly making online threats against the Lee County Sheriff's Office. Sheriff Jim Johnson tells the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal (http://bit.ly/1KYZXgN) that the office's Facebook page started getting private messages Sunday from 35-year-old Charles Lamar Carter.
‘Troll Hunter’ exposes Sweden’s anonymous Internet haters - 06/09/15
http://america.aljazeera.com/watch/show
Where there’s Internet, there are inevitably trolls spewing hateful or threatening language even in Sweden, with its reputation for tolerance and liberalism. But Sweden has one of the highest proportions of Internet users in the world and, like many other countries, has seen online vitriol leave digital spaces with very real consequences. Faced with anonymous online trolls, most people are powerless to stop the abuse. Enter "Troll Hunter."
Controlling the cyber schoolyard - 06/09/15
http://it-online.co.za/2015/06/09/contr
Electronic technology has given traditional bullies an expansive platform from which to harass, threaten, embarrass or target another person, resulting in serious emotional consequences for children, tweens and teenagers. By definition, according to stopcyberbullying.org, cyberbullying “has to have a minor on both sides, or at least have been instigated by a minor against another minor. Once adults become involved, it is plain and simple cyber-harassment or cyberstalking.”
http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2015/06/1
An Indiana police department shared video of its chief having some fun with a phone scammer who took a few minutes to realize he was being played. Danville Police Chief Bill Wright said he was in the car with his wife when he got a call from an unknown number saying he had "been selected by the federal government to receive a grant of $7,000." Wright filmed his conversation with the scammer and it was shared on YouTube and the police department's Facebook page. "The government checked all your accounts and you have been a low taxpayer so this is like a tax refund which you never, ever have to pay back in your whole life," the caller says, while Wright's wife struggles not to laugh. Wright later said he recognized the call as a scam right away and decided to play along, often screaming in mock joy and shouting "I won!" The caller tells Wright to take down a number and visit the nearest Western Union, where a supervisor would supposedly help him claim his cash. The scammer realizes he's being played about three minutes into the conversation. "You can stick that $7,000 up your [expletive], okay?" the scammer says. Wright said he saw the situation as an opportunity to raise awareness of phone scams in his community. "It was done as much to let people know what's going on as much as we did it for fun. ... They absolutely picked the wrong person," Wright told WXIN-TV.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Visit WHOA on the web at http://www.haltabuse.org
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
NEWS TO USE AND PASS ALONG!
(DISCLAIMER: The following news items were found on the web and were not written or endorsed by WHO@; they are for informational purposes only)
Reddit's Subreddit Ban Highlights One Thing: Fighting Harassment Is Tricky - 06/13/15
http://readwrite.com/2015/06/13/red
This week, Reddit admins have decided to ban five subreddit forum communities that, it says, are in breach of the site's rules and regulations. Clicking through on the blacklisted subreddits now leads to a holding page announcing the ban. The five subreddits in questionfour of which have under 5,000 memberscover controversial attitudes towards race, gender and weight. Reddit says that the forums broke the site's new harassment rules, which were introduced last month.
Agony of the parents trolled over their dead baby: Grieving couple were branded liars as they mourned death of newborn daughter - 06/12/15
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art
An internet troll has been given with a lifetime restraining order after he attacked a grieving couple online over the death of their baby daughter. Michael Murphy, of Ludlow, Shropshire, wrote a string of abusive blog posts about the parents of baby Kate Stanton-Davies, who died after medical blunders by doctors.
Signs of backlash to Internet trolls appearing - 06/12/15
https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/2015/0
If you don’t spend much of your valuable earth-time gazing into Reddit, Facebook, Twitter, 4chan, or any of the Internet’s other habitats for social media trolls, lucky you. For the rest of us, trolling remains a stubborn reality of Internet life. Broadly speaking, a “troll” manifests as a more aggressive strain of the “hater,” a typically anonymous figure posting objectively offensive or abusive content, often repeatedly, and often targeting other users by goading them into defensive responses. Whether the troll actually believes in the purported premise of the trolling is almost beside the point. The act of trolling trumps any ideological end game it serves: The noun, at heart, is the verb.
Twitter's block list export to enable en masse blocking of trolls - 06/12/15
https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2015/0
Twitter's ever-growing toolkit for handling harassers might do the job for normal people, but those who get caught up in harassment campaigns like Gamergate can get stuck in an endless game of whack-a-mole, overwhelmed by hundreds of harassers as tormenters pull cohorts in on coordinated attacks and put up new accounts as fast as they can be closed down.
Give it back like Vishakha Singh: Here's how to deal with creepy guys online - 06/12/15
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/g
A couple of days ago, Fukrey actress Vishakha Singh received a sexually explicit message on her profile from one MD Mustakim Saifi, who wrote on her wall , "Nice looking & nice b**bs'. But instead of ignoring him she decided to give it back in her own way. Have a look at how she responded.
Jurors hear about scene of shooting in cyberstalking case - 06/12/15
http://www.stardem.com/ap/state/article
Jurors in the federal cyberstalking trial of relatives of a gunman who killed his former daughter-in-law at a courthouse in 2013 heard witness testimony about the victim’s last moments Friday. Former optometrist David Matusiewicz; his mother, Lenore Matusiewicz; and his sister, Amy Gonzalez, are charged with conspiracy and cyberstalking of David Matusiewicz’s ex-wife, Christine Belford. They could face life in prison if convicted of stalking that resulted in her death.
Fighting online bullies leaves tech firms caught between a rock and a hard place - 06/11/15
http://venturebeat.com/2015/06/11/fight
One of the biggest challenges facing any social platform is abusive trolls, and Internet companies are increasingly having to tread a fine line between supporting freedom of speech and censoring abusive and threatening content. Yesterday, Reddit the popular social news site that lets users submit, discuss, and “upvote” articles and anecdotes announced it was removing five subreddits (topic-specific sub-sections) deemed to be conducive of harassment: r/fatpeoplehate, r/hamplanethatred, r/transfags, r/neofag, and r/shitniggerssay.
Victim reveals how her life was shattered by her ex-partner who became her cyber bully - 06/11/15
http://www.northampton-news-hp.co.uk/Vi
A victim who suffered cyber bullying at the hands of her ex-partner broke down in tears today recalling her traumatic experience. The woman who does not want to be named or identified had her privacy and her life shattered by her ex-partner who in her words was 'very possessive'. She was speaking at the launch of a new initiative launched by Northamptonshire Police to tackle cyber stalking and online abuse which will mean better protection for domestic abuse victims.
Miranda Cosgrove Stalker goes Cyber: Continues to terrorize in cyber space; Imprisonment for 4 years waits - 06/11/15
http://www.vcpost.com/articles/73552/20
Joshua Stockton, Miranda Cosgrove's stalker, is in trouble for his indecent act towards the actress through - cyber stalking. He is reportedly on his big break from the hospital where he was confined for some psychiatric issues thus given a reward because of his good act; yet right after he has been rewarded, went all the way to contact Miranda Cosgrove's friends to get a chance to know the actress's whereabouts and updates.
Verona man charged with cyber stalking sheriff's office - 06/10/15
http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/cr
Bond has been set at $100,000 for a Verona man for allegedly making online threats against the Lee County Sheriff's Office. Sheriff Jim Johnson tells the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal (http://bit.ly/1KYZXgN) that the office's Facebook page started getting private messages Sunday from 35-year-old Charles Lamar Carter.
‘Troll Hunter’ exposes Sweden’s anonymous Internet haters - 06/09/15
http://america.aljazeera.com/watch/show
Where there’s Internet, there are inevitably trolls spewing hateful or threatening language even in Sweden, with its reputation for tolerance and liberalism. But Sweden has one of the highest proportions of Internet users in the world and, like many other countries, has seen online vitriol leave digital spaces with very real consequences. Faced with anonymous online trolls, most people are powerless to stop the abuse. Enter "Troll Hunter."
Controlling the cyber schoolyard - 06/09/15
http://it-online.co.za/2015/06/09/contr
Electronic technology has given traditional bullies an expansive platform from which to harass, threaten, embarrass or target another person, resulting in serious emotional consequences for children, tweens and teenagers. By definition, according to stopcyberbullying.org, cyberbullying “has to have a minor on both sides, or at least have been instigated by a minor against another minor. Once adults become involved, it is plain and simple cyber-harassment or cyberstalking.”
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