MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (WCIV) — A Mount Pleasant resident is being extorted and threatened with “swatting” after hiring and quickly firing an “ethical hacker” to help recover a Roblox account, according to a police report.
The complaint submitted to Mount Pleasant police states that the resident, whose personal information was redacted, “enlisted the help” of the hacker after a lack of response from Roblox support, paying a $150 deposit but then cancelling the work less than an hour later. Since then, they report receiving WhatsApp messages, emails, and texts containing pictures of them and their address, as well as numerous threats.
The resident reported that the hacker has threatened them with “swatting,” a form of criminal harassment where individuals will rouse responses from law enforcement, often including SWAT teams, by deceiving dispatchers with threats of major emergencies like bomb threats, mass shootings, or hostage situations at targeted individual’s locations. Recent examples include a slew of active shooter alerts called in at college libraries around the country linked to the online “Purgatory” group…