A now-former U.S. State Department employee has been indicted by a federal grand jury in a computer hacking and cyberstalking scheme in which he allegedly threatened to share sexually explicit photos of his victims unless they gave him additional photos and videos.
Michael Ford, 37, of Atlanta, was indicted on Aug. 18 and charged with nine counts of cyberstalking, seven counts of computer hacking to extort, and one count of wire fraud.
“Ford is alleged to have hacked into hundreds of email accounts and tormented women across the country, by threatening to humiliate them unless they provided him with sexually explicit photos and videos,” said U.S. Attorney John Horn. He said Ford is alleged to have used the U.S. Embassy in London as a base for his cyberstalking campaign.
Ford was a civilian employee at the embassy and allegedly used his government-issued computer to conduct the phishing, hacking and cyberstalking activities.
Federal authorities alleged Ford, using stolen passwords, obtained sexually explicit photos and other personal information from victims’ email and social media accounts.
From January 2013 through May 2015, Ford, using various aliases, allegedly posed as a member of the fictitious “account deletion team” for a well-known email service provider, Horn said. He sent notices to thousands of potential victims, including members of college sororities, warning them that their accounts would be deleted if they did not provide their passwords, according to authorities.
Using the passwords collected from this phishing scheme, Ford allegedly hacked into hundreds of email and social media accounts, stole sexually explicit photos and personal identifying information.
Ford then allegedly emailed the victims and threatened to release the photos, which were attached to the emails, unless they obtained and sent him videos of “sexy girls” undressing in changing rooms at pools, gyms and clothing stores.
When the victims refused or begged Ford to leave them alone, Ford allegedly told them he knew where they lived. Ford sometimes followed through with his threats by sending sexually explicit photos to victims’ family members and friends, authorities said.
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