Lizard Squad Teen Admits Guilt In 23 Charges Of Swatting, Harassment

A 17-year-old in Canada plead guilty in court this week to 23 criminal charges of harassment, including swatting and extortion, mostly aimed at young women who played the online game League of Legends. The British Columbia resident describes himself as being a member of the hacking group Lizard Squad, and admitted to a number of swatting incidents that targeted victims in Tucson, Arizona and Florida, among other US cities.

Local publication Tri-City News offered a detailed report of the day-long court hearing, revealing that the boy, who isn't named do to being underage, would find his targets on League of Legends and Twitter, starting harassment campaigns if they didn't accept his friend requests.

His attacks would often start with posting personal details like financial records and contact info on the internet, then escalate to "swatting," or calling the victim's local law enforcement and telling them his target's home was the site of a hostage situation, or that he had killed everyone inside. In one of the worst instances, he targeted a young woman at the University of Arizona who eventually had to drop out of school after multiple swattings on her and her parents.

The teen — who went by the online handle "obnoxious" — was finally arrested after an eight-hour YouTube live stream where he had multiple people swatted. Enough viewers called the police on him that he was tracked down. He now has a court date scheduled for June 29th, when sentencing will be determined.

SOURCE Tri-City News

VIA ArsTechnica