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Cyber Risks · Krebs on Security

3 Charged In Fatal Kansas ‘Swatting’ Attack

Summary: Federal prosecutors charged three men over a fatal 'swatting' hoax that began with a $1.50 dispute in the online game Call of Duty: Shane Gaskill, 19, and Casey Viner, 18, fell out over the wager, and Viner enlisted serial swatter Tyler Barriss, who called Wichita 911 claiming he had shot his father and was holding his mother and sister at gunpoint. Police surrounded the address Gaskill had supplied - which he no longer lived at - and 28-year-old Andrew Finch, a father of two with no part in the dispute, exited the home and was killed by a single shot from a Wichita officer.

Why it matters: The most serious hoax charge carries a potential life sentence because it resulted in a death, and the indictment shows the three men messaging about deleting everything once it became 'a murder case' - a reminder that a hoax call to 911 is a weapon aimed at a real address, and the person who answers the door has no idea a game is being played.

Read the original at Krebs on Security ↗

Topics
Data Breaches
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