Matthew Weigman, the legally blind phone phreaker considered the best alive to practice the craft, was sentenced to 11 years in prison this week in accordance to his guilty plea entered earlier this year on charges of intimidation and computer intrusion. The notable aspect to his crimes was the use of a phone to instigate a form of punishment and entertainment called swatting, where SWAT teams were dispatched to victims homes based on false 911 calls.
Weigman sentenced to 11 years for admitted crimes (IMG: J.Anderson)
Lil (read little) Hacker, his name to those who knew him best, Weigman will face 11 years in prison in accordance to a guilty plea he entered earlier this year for his role in a conspiracy to retaliate against a witness who informed on him to the FBI. The witness, a Verizon investigator, caught wind of Weigman’s phreaking activities and informed the feds. On and off throughout 2008, Weigman and others attempted to have the Verizon investigator fired from his job by reporting false offenses to Verizon about him. To add to the retaliation, Weigman and some friends paid the investigator a visit at his home, in an attempt to get him to stop his reporting to the feds.
Other crimes admitted in his guilty plea include membership in a crew of other phreakers who used their skill to gain access to credit cards by eavesdropping on telephone operator conversations, free phone calls, and illegal service. At one point when the Verizon investigation led to his phone services to be disconnected, he used employee access codes and names to have it reactivated.
Weigman’s crew also had a rather dangerous way to entertain themselves and punish anyone who triggered their ire. They called the process swatting, and in 2006 Weigman staged a call to police in Alvarado, Texas to swat one victim. He called the police reporting that he had shot and killed members of the target's family, he had hostages, was armed with an AK-47, and was demanding $50,000 USD and safe passage to Mexico. This resulted in the police being sent to the victim’s house, SWAT included, only to discover nothing more than a family scared senseless by their sudden arrival.
The swatting was successful in part to Weigman’s skill in using the phone system to cover his tracks.
Wired’s Kevin Poulsen interviewed Weigman, and in two reports told the story of the Phreaker. For more information on his case and the man himself, check out Poulsen’s reports here and here.
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