There have been a
string of anonymous attacks on liberty activists, all attempting to
trick people into opening email attachments containing child-porn. We
know of at least four such attempts within the past few weeks.
The
first was when someone emailed Luke Rudkowski, Founder of We Are
Change and tried to trick him into opening attached jpeg files
containing child porn. Luke was able to use the "view" function of his
email to see that the images were child porn and he did not open them.
Then,
someone using a tormail account tried to do the same thing to Dan
Johnson, Founder of People Against the NDAA (PANDA). Whoever emailed
Dan Johnson pretended to be me, Stewart Rhodes, but using a Tormail
account. Fortunately, Dan knew that I don't use Tormail, and
therefore he did not open the attachments. Instead, he had a computer
security expert examine the files, and that expert determined that they
contained child porn. You can read more about that attack, and watch
a video we made about it,
here.
Well,
a few days later it happened again, to two other liberty activists we
know. They have chosen, for the time being, to not go public about
it, in the hopes that the FBI will have a better chance of catching the
perp. All of us have reported these incidents to the FBI, through
attorney Sue Basko.
Sue
has written a very well done description of what happened, what we did
to report it, and some important advice on how you can keep from being
victimized by whoever is doing this. Here is an excerpt of that
tutorial. Please take her advice to heart, and be very careful online.
Stewart Rhodes
TUTORIAL BY ATTORNEY SUE BASKO:
Child Porn Emailed to Activists to Try to Frame Them
by Sue Basko
I
have been assisting a group of activist men to whom someone emailed
child porn in an attempt to set them up for criminal charges. Whoever
is doing this is extremely sinister.
I am writing this to warn others to beware. I'll give specific info on what to do if it happens to you.
First,
Luke Rudkowski, a media activist at We Are Change, was sent child
porn via email while he was in Europe and crossing borders between
nations. Luckily, he previewed the images and reported the situation
to the FBI at the Embassy in the city he was visiting.
Then,
Dan Johnson of PANDA (People Against the NDAA) received an email that
looked like it was from Stewart Rhodes of Oath Keepers. Dan was
suspicious of the email because he had heard about what happened to
Luke Rudkowski. Also, the email was a tormail account, which is
untraceable, and Dan did not know Stewart to use such an account. In
addition, there were attachments.
Dan
did not open the attachments, because he was suspicious of them.
Instead, he gave access to his email account to a computer security
expert. The expert opened the files in a live forensics environment,
and saw they were child porn images. The method he used did not leave
the files on his computer or drive. The metadata on the files was
fixed to the names of Stewart and Oath Keepers, to make it look as if
the pictures came from Stewart.
Two
days later, the same scenario was repeated, with two men from
different organizations. The same computer security expert examined
those files, and found they were the same images as in the previous
email, but the metadata on the images had been changed to match the name
of the supposed sender and his organization.
Whoever
did this attempted to set up both the men in whose names they were
sending the emails, as well as the men who were to receive the images.
This is evil to the max.
WHAT WE DID:
I
made a group report to the FBI on behalf of all the men, including
the computer security expert. With all the information neatly
arranged in one report, hopefully the FBI will be able to get some
leads on who is behind these dastardly set-up attempts. The men are
from all over the nation, so filing separate reports would have
diluted the reports' effectiveness for law enforcement purposes. A
good deal of forensics examination has already been done by the
computer security expert, and hopefully, he will be able to share his
information with the FBI.
WHAT TO DO IF IT HAPPENS TO YOU:
If
you receive such an email, try to get the files checked out by a
security expert before you open them. In any case, you MUST make a
report to the police or FBI, because there is child porn involved. It
is illegal to view, possess, or pass child porn. The criminal
penalties are extreme and include forfeiture of assets, including
homes, cash, and personal belongings. Therefore, even the computer
security person has to file a report.
By
law, you are required to make the report to a law enforcement agency
promptly, and to either destroy the images or make the images available
to law enforcement. I'd say wait and see if they want the images
before you destroy them. Also, don't delete the email until you file
your report, because the routing information on the email may be
helpful to police. Also, you need to alert the person whose name was
put on the email as the sender. You need to let that person make a
police report, too. They have been as victimized as you have, if not
moreso.
If
you receive such an email and open the files, you are likely to be
shocked, or to feel shame, fear, or a desire to push this away and
pretend it did not happen. You can't do that because you need to report
it so you don't risk being caught up in child porn charges, even
years down the line. If you need to go to therapy or seek other help
to work out your shock over seeing the images and being set up, you
should do that, but promptly make the police report. Keep in mind
that someone is, in fact, targeting you specifically and trying to
harm you terribly. Therefore, it may be wise to take extra safety
precautions for yourself and your family.
WARNING SIGNS THAT AN EMAIL MAY CONTAIN CHILD PORN:
1) Use of tormail account or other untraceable email account.
2) Uses the name of someone you know, but from an email account you don't recognize.
3) Has jpegs or pdf files attached.
4) Has an email message that DOES NOT HINT at the files containing
child porn, but encourages you to open the files and spread them to
all your friends/ compatriots.
5) The email may have veiled threats against you or your group.
WHAT TO DO:
1) Don't open the files. Try to get help from a computer security expert.
2) If there is child porn, REPORT THE SITUATION TO THE POLICE OR FBI.
3) Share what happened to warn others.
4) Take care of yourself. Talk to a friend, get counseling if needed,
take safety precautions for yourself and your family, etc.
Read the rest
here. Be sure to go to Sue's site, and thank her for her help.
http://subliminalridge.blogspot.com/2013/07/child-porn-emailed-to-activists-to-try.html
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