Just a kid gone wrong or ISIS terrorist?
January 14, 2014 - August 18, 2014 Matthew Tollis New England Bomb Hoax SWAT Prank not-Terrorist Spree Connecticut resident gamer Matthew Tollis faces up to 27 months in prison after pleading guilty in June to a series of attacks on schools costing over $1m and evacuating thousands in the form of hoax threats which were made as part of an online gang based in the UK which made terroristic threats to schools and a convention center over the course of a year in 2014.
FBI has yet to announce any progress in tracking down three of Tollis’s alleged co-conspirators, believed to have made swatting calls to Harvard University and the new Sandy Hook Elementary School nbcnewyork According to documents produced during Tollis’s appearance in Connecticut’s federal court last week, the gang also made hoax calls to Boston University, Harvard University and a private residence in Willimantic, Connecticut
On January 14, 2014 threats to high school in Texas Tollis is alleged to have participated in fake intruder alert at the Catholic St. John Vianney High School in Homdel New Jersey causing evacuation of 1,000., and the next day at Allenwood High School in New Jersey, causing evacuation of 3,000 students. On April 3, threats were made to a Florida high school and Boston University, and the University of Connecticut. April 11 a call was made to a gaming conference at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Centre by a man who claimed he was an "Iraqi national working for Allah whose children were murdered by marines.” On August 18, the ring made a threat made to Sandy Hook Elementary School by a man who identified himself as "Mohammed Jamile" with an assault rifle. Tollis provided information that led to finding that three members of the TCOD group “ISISGang”reside in the United Kingdom.One of them tweeted that they were motivated because it was "funny to swat a few cocky gamers and terrorise schools.” It is not known whether The tweet has since been deleted. Threats have invoked with Arab and muslim names and causes, though it is unknown if they are just trying to discredit a certain group.
The investigation revealed that one of the founders of TCOD, a resident of Scotland who has identified himself as “Verified,” was responsible for at least five additional swatting incidents in Connecticut and Massachusetts in 2014.
Face of American Prank terrorist
Tollis (Photo: COURTESY UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT POLICE, COURTESY UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTIC)
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FBI: Wethersfield Man Admits Participating in Multiple Swatting Incidents
*FBI
FBI: Wethersfield Man Admits Participating in Multiple Swatting Incidents
Wethersfield Man Admits Participating in Multiple Swatting Incidents
| U.S. Attorney’s OfficeJune 23, 2015 |
Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that MATTHEW TOLLIS, 22, of Wethersfield, pleaded guilty today in New Haven federal court to participating in a series of “swatting” incidents that occurred in Connecticut and other states in 2014.
“Swatting” is the making of a hoax call to any emergency service to elicit an emergency response based on the false report of an ongoing critical incident. Incidents typically produce the deployment of SWAT units, bomb squads, and other police units, as well as the evacuations of schools, businesses and residences.
“Swatting incidents have wasted millions of dollars in law enforcement resources and have caused emotional distress for numerous victims,” stated U.S. Attorney Daly. “This is not a game. We are committed to exposing individuals responsible for these threats and prosecuting them to the full extent of the law.”
According to court documents and statements made in court, TOLLIS was a member of a group primarily consisting of Microsoft X-Box gamers who referred to themselves as “TCOD” (TeAM CrucifiX or Die). TOLLIS and his TCOD associates used the Internet communication service Skype to make hoax threats involving bombs, hostage taking, firearms, and mass murder. TOLLIS was identified as a participant in at least six of these swatting incidents, including a bomb threat to the UConn’s Admissions Department on April 3, 2014. This hoax call resulted in a three-hour, campus-wide lockdown and required the UConn Police and the Connecticut State Police’s Bomb Squad, Emergency Services Unit and SWAT teams to respond.
TOLLIS also participated in TCOD swatting calls to the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, Boston University, two high schools in New Jersey and a high school in Texas. In pleading guilty, TOLLIS admitted that he identified potential institutions, including UConn and Boston University, for TCOD members to make the threatening calls, and gathered telephone numbers and other information about the targeted institutions.
The investigation revealed that one of the founders of TCOD, a resident of Scotland who has identified himself as “Verified,” was responsible for at least five additional swatting incidents in Connecticut and Massachusetts in 2014. Other members of TCOD also reside in the U.K., and the FBI continues to coordinate its investigation with law enforcement authorities in the U.K.
TOLLIS was arrested on September 3, 2014, on state charges stemming from the UConn swatting incident, and he was arrested on a federal criminal complaint on September 10, 2014. He is currently released on a $100,000 bond.
Today, TOLLIS waived his right to indictment and pleaded guilty to conspiring to engage in the malicious conveying of false information, namely a bomb threat hoax, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of five years. He is scheduled to be sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall on September 15, 2015.
This matter is being investigated by the FBI’s New Haven, Newark and Boston field offices, the UConn Police Department, the Connecticut Intelligence Center, the Willimantic Police Department, the Monroe Police Department, the Harvard University Police Department, the Boston University Police Department, the Newton (Mass.) Police Department, the Cambridge (Mass.) Police Department and other state and local law enforcement agencies.
U.S. Attorney Daly also acknowledged the critical assistance being provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Krishna R. Patel and Stephen B. Reynolds.
This content has been reproduced from its original source.
October 6, 2015 Connecticut man to be sentenced for series of 'swatting' hoax calls Reuters msn news A 22-year-old Connecticut man is due to be sentenced on Tuesday for at least six "swatting" hoax calls to U.S. high schools and colleges last year threatening that bombers or active shooters were about to target the institutions. Matthew Tollis faces up to 27 months in prison after pleading guilty in June
Florida high school on April 3, a
threats made to Boston University and a Florida high school on April 3,
threat made to the University of Connecticut on April 3,
April 11 a call was made to the Boston Convention and Exhibition Centre by a man identifying himself as ‘Matt Hag’ whilst a gaming conference with 60,000 people in attendance was going on. The The FBI affidavit states: “Hag claimed that he was an Iraqi national who migrated to the United States in 2006 and was working for Allah. Hag claimed he was upset that innocent Iraqis were being killed and stated that his children were murdered by marines.”
January 16 2014 Tollis is accused of taking part in a similar threat targeting Allenwood High School the following day, according to the affidavit.some 3,000 students in the Upper Freehold Regional School District were evacuated after a call was made to the district's Allentown High School, claiming a bomb had been placed in the lavatory, according to the affidavit.
January 14, 2015 threats to high school in Texas irst swatting Tollis took part in was a call to Hebron High School in Carrollton, Texas, in which the caller said a student was in possession of a firearm or bomb.As SWAT officers arrived at the school, members of the group tweeted about the bomb threat.“Declaws” claimed responsibility for the bomb threat and a user called “inb4mad” posted a screenshot of the Skype call used to make the threat
Tollis had been “pizza bombed”, a prank where huge numbers of pizzas are delivered to a target’s home, and “doxed”, which involves publicly revealing private information such as social security numbers and passwords.
*Middle East Muslim terrorists
Some of the threats evoked fear of Middle-Eastern terrorists. April 11 a call was made to the Boston Convention and Exhibition Centre by a man identifying himself as ‘Matt Hag’ whilst a gaming conference with 60,000 people in attendance was going on. The The FBI affidavit states: “Hag claimed that he was an Iraqi national who migrated to the United States in 2006 and was working for Allah. Hag claimed he was upset that innocent Iraqis were being killed and stated that his children were murdered by marines.”
BRITISH 'ISIS GANG' HACKERS TRACKED BY FBI Breitbart group of British computer hackers are being tracked down by the FBI and face extradition to the United States, after calling in a series of terrorist threats across the States. The group, two of which are believed to live in Scotland, are part of a larger gang calling themselves the “ISISGang”. The three British youths, one of whom is understood to be just 16, made a series of calls via Skype threatening schools, universities and conference centres with bombing and shootings, the Sunday Times has reported. The prank calls are said to have cost American authorities £600,000 ($1million).
The content of the calls have included references to 9/11 and the killing of Iraqis by American military forces. One of the group, who goes by the names “Verified” and “Spiky” last week Tweeted “RIP to the 9/11 pilots” and joked about the beheadings of Foley and Sotloff by ISIS forces.
In a call to Sandy Hook Elementary School, which was the scene of a mass shooting which claimed the lives of 20 children and six adults in 2012, a man using the name ‘Mohammed Jamile’ claimed he was on his way to the school to “kill all your asses.”
And in April a call was made to the Boston Convention and Exhibition Centre by a man identifying himself as ‘Matt Hag’ whilst a gaming conference with 60,000 people in attendance was going on. The The FBI affidavit states: “Hag claimed that he was an Iraqi national who migrated to the United States in 2006 and was working for Allah. Hag claimed he was upset that innocent Iraqis were being killed and stated that his children were murdered by marines.”
The American authorities were put onto the trail of the three men by an American, Matthew Tollis, 21, who was arrested in April. Tollis is being prosecuted by the attorney for the district of Connecticut for his alleged involvement with the group, and is complying with authorities by giving them information on the other members of the gang.
He has revealed that the gang met as Xbox gamers, and originally called themselves TeAM CrucifiX or Die before changing their name in August. They had all been involved in ‘Swatting’, which involves calling in fake threats in order to get Swat teams to converge on the target.
Tollis followed two of the group via Twitter, believing that they would protect him from abuse that he had received on the social platform. Tollis had been ‘pizza bombed’, in which dozens of pizzas are ordered and sent to the target’s home, and ‘doxed’, which involves releasing private information like social security numbers and passwords online. He has admitted to taking part in prank calls against Hebron High School, Texas, two New Jersey high schools, Boston University, and the Boston Convention Centre.
The three British individuals are known online as ‘Verified’, ‘Jordie’, and ‘Declaws’. Tollis has given the FBI possible identities for the first two, claiming that ‘Verified’ lives in Scotland. ‘Declaws’ may also be Scottish – he has Tweeted about visiting McDonalds in Arbroath, a port on the eastern coast of Scotland.
“Jordie” claims to be an “aspiring rapper”. Tweeting under the name “GDKJordie”, he wrote: “I’ve more or less ruined my life at 16 because i [sic] thought it would be funny to swat a few cocky gamers and terrorise schools.” The tweet has since been deleted.
Online gamer nabbed in Monmouth school threat hoaxes Kathleen Hopkins A Connecticut man stands accused in an international ring of online gamers who used Skype to call in threats of bombs, mass shootings and other terror to schools in New Jersey and five other states, including St. John Vianney High School in Holmdel, Allentown High School, Harvard University and Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. Matthew Tollis, 21, of Wethersfield, Connecticut....
Wethersfield Man Pleads Guilty In UConn Bomb Hoax ...
www.courant.com/.../hc-swatting-guilty-plea-0624-201...Hartford Courant
Jun 23, 2015 - A Wethersfield man pleaded guilty in “swatting” UConn bomb threat ...Matthew Tollis, 22, was a member of a group of mostly video game players ... the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, Boston University and to high ...UConn Bomb Threat - Hartford Courant
www.courant.com/community/.../hc-uconn-bomb-threa...
Sep 10, 2014 - Tollis admitted involvement in several threatening hoax calls, the ... In addition to the UConn threat and the one to Boston University the same ...Hartford Courant
Inside a SWAT Prank Ring - ABC News - Go.com
abcnews.go.com/US/inside-swat-prank-ring-allegedly...box.../story?...
Sep 11, 2014 - There were also threats made against Boston University and the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center. Tollis denied making the calls himself, ...Boston University Police Department - Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/BostonUPolice/posts/1137905552892894
BU Police Assisted Federal Authorities in Conviction of Man in participating in Hoax Bomb Threat "Swatting" Incident to BU Admissions in April 2014 On.. ... On June 23, 2015 Matthew Tollis, 22, of Wethersfield, CT, pleaded guilty in US District ...FBI — Wethersfield Man Admits Participating in Multiple ...
https://www.fbi.gov/.../wethersfield-man-...
Jun 23, 2015 - TOLLIS also participated in TCOD swatting calls to the Boston ... andBoston University, for TCOD members to make the threatening calls, and ...Federal Bureau of Investigation
Online gamer nabbed in Monmouth school threat hoaxes
www.app.com/story/news/crime/...threat.../15462227/
Sep 12, 2014 - Tollis was charged with conspiring to engage in a bomb-threat hoax, ...14, threats made to Boston University and a Florida high school on April ...Asbury Park Press
Wethersfield Man Charged Federally For Role In Swatting ...
www.justice.gov/.../wethersfield-man-...
Sep 10, 2014 - As alleged in the criminal complaint, TOLLIS was a member of a group... threat to the University of Connecticut (UConn), and bomb threats to schools ... the Harvard University Police Department, the Boston University Police ...United States Department of Justice
Connecticut Man Faces 'Swatting' Charges; Fake Crises but ...
www.connecticutmag.com/.../Connecticut-Man-Faces-Swatting-Charges-...
Sep 22, 2014 - After the call, the building was evacuated and the university's police ...including threats made to Boston University, the Boston Convention Center, ... Though swatting incidents are rare they are not limited to Tollis and TCOD.Man charged with making hoax bomb threats, leading to ...
www.sheltonherald.com/.../man-charged-with-making-hoax-bomb-threat...
Sep 14, 2014 - Man charged with making hoax bomb threats, leading to SWAT team ...On April 3
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