Crime Stories for 2019

A 22-Year-Old Was Convicted For Attempting To Blackmail Apple For $100,000 In iTunes Gift Cards 32
IT Worker With Grudge Jailed 31
How a Fake Murder-For-Hire Site Led To Real Convictions 38
Samsung Chair Imprisoned and 24 Others Found Guilty In Union-Busting Case 40
Bank Employee Steals Cash, Then Posts Pics of It On Facebook and Instagram 78
37-Year-Old Mom Finds Instagram's Sex Predators By Pretending To Be 11 123
Someone Stole Facebook Payroll Data For Thousands of Employees 29
Google Hands Feds 1,500 Phone Locations In Unprecedented 'Geofence' Search 53
Genetic Database That Identified Golden State Killer Acquired By Crime Scene DNA Company 39
When a DNA Test Says You're a Younger Man, Who Lives 5,000 Miles Away 76
'Why Are Cops Around the World Using This Outlandish Mind-Reading Tool?' 93
He Gave a Cryptocurrency Talk In North Korea. The US Arrested Him. 244
Dutch Politician Faces 3 Years In Prison For Hacking iCloud Accounts, Leaking Nudes 31
Anonymous Hacker Gets Six Years In Prison For DDoS Attacks 76
Cops Put GPS Tracker On Man's Car, Charge Him With Theft For Removing It 286
Why Two Pentesters In Iowa Are Facing A Criminal Investigation and Trespassing Charges 110
Ask Slashdot: What Should You Do If Someone's Trying To Steal Your Identity? 146
Tech Sites Including Microsoft's Bing Criticized Over Child Pornography Policies 73
Are Amazon's 'Ring' Cameras Exacerbating Societal Inequality? 437
Florida Police Are Using Amazon Echo Recordings For a Murder Investigation 38
'Nearly All' Counter-Strike Microtransactions Are Being Used for Money Laundering 34
US Takes Step To Require DNA Samples From Asylum-Seekers 357
Huge Child Porn Ring Busted As Authorities Cite Ability To Crack Bitcoin Privacy 179
IRS Programmer Stole Identities, Funded A Two-Year Shopping Spree 91
Her iPhone Died. It Led To Her Being Charged As a Criminal 211
Florida Man Arrested For Cutting Electric Scooter Brakes 87
Fugitive On Run For 17 Years Found Living In Cave By a Drone 51
Krebs Publishes 'Interview With the Guy Who Tried To Frame Me For Heroin Possession' 52
New Federal Rules Limit Police Searches of Family Tree DNA Databases 40
Germany Shuts Down Illegal Data Center In Former NATO Bunker 17
MayPayrollHR CEO Arrested, Admits To $70 Million Fraud 37
Two Arrested In $10 Million Tech Support Scam That Preyed On the Elderly 60
Vaping Criminal Probe Announced By FDA As Illnesses Rise To 530 100
Released from Prison, Spammer Who Stole 17.5 Million Passwords Apologizes and Reforms 19
Two Penetration Testers Arrested For Attempted Burglary 63
One of America's Biggest Markets for AI-Powered Security Cameras: Schools 56
YouTube's Fine Criticized As Proof US Government Is 'Not Serious' About Big Tech Crackdown 63
MIT Media Lab Chief Joi Ito Resigns Following Ronan Farrow's New Yorker Expose 75
Google To Pay $170 Million To Settle FTC Claims That YouTube Collected Kids Data Illegally 23
Fraudsters Used AI to Mimic CEO's Voice in Unusual Cybercrime Case 47
Feds Forced Google To Reveal All Google Users Within 100 Feet of a Bank Robbery 141
Amazon Is Telling Police Departments What To Say About Its Ring Surveillance Cameras 79
Netflix-like Pirate Sites Offered More Video Than the Real Netflix, Feds Say 31
Freelance Site Fiverr Offers Illegal Private Spying Services 29
Police Sell Cyberattackers $1M Bitcoin Stash To Compensate Victims 31
Massive Ransomware Attack Hits 23 Local Texas Government Offices 52
Why Am I Receiving Unordered Boxes From Amazon? 62
Alexa, Siri, and Google Home Can Be Tricked Into Sending Callers To Scam Phone Numbers 14
Capital One Hacker Stole 'Terabytes' of Data From More Than 30 Companies, Court Docs Reveal 39
$3 Million Fortnite Winner Becomes Latest Swatting Target 154
Amazon Ring Alert Leads To Capture of 'Extremely Dangerous' Escaped Convict 85
AI Pioneer Accused of Having Sex With Trafficking Victim On Jeffrey Epstein's Island 273
Trump Asks Social Media Companies To Develop Pre-Crime Algorithms 333
Georgia Department of Public Safety Hit By Ransomware Attack. 88
Amazon Delivery Drivers Part Of Theft Ring Selling 'Millions' in Stolen Goods on Amazon 84
NYPD Adds Children As Young As 11 To Facial Recognition Database 76
Marcus 'MalwareTech' Hutchins Gets No Prison Time, One Year Supervised Release 45
Siemens Contractor Pleads Guilty To Planting Logic Bomb In Company Spreadsheets 165
Microsoft Pays $25 Million To End US Probe Into Bribery Overseas 52
Ex-Microsoft Worker Charged in Alleged Scheme To Steal $10M in Gift Cards and Use Funds To Finance Extravagant Purchases 55
Should Local Governments Pay Ransomware Attackers? 129
What Happens When Landlords Can Get Cheap Surveillance Software? 167
Prenda 'Copyright Troll' Lawyer Sentenced To Five Years In Prison 91
America's FBI Is Running Facial Recognition Searches On Millions of Driver's License Photos 177
When Ransomware Gets Paid By A City's Insurance Policies 131
International Crime Ring Suspected in 7-Eleven App Breach 37
Hacker Who Launched DDoS Attacks on Sony, EA, and Steam Gets 27 Months in Prison 76
Former Equifax CIO Sentenced to 4 Months in Prison for Insider Training 85
Sting Finds Ransomware Data Recovery Firms Are Just Paying The Ransom 148
Theranos Founder Elizabeth Holmes To Stand Trial In 2020 125
Ex-Chair of FCC Broadband Committee Gets Five Years In Prison For Fraud 43
Remembering The Retiree Who Became America's Worst Counterfeiter 98
Prisons Are Banning Books That Teach Prisoners How To Code 193
Millionaire Hacker Gets 9 Years In Death of Man Building Nuclear Bunker Tunnels 175
FBI Issues Search Warrant To 8chan For IP Address of Shooter, Commenters 151
Prenda Copyright Troll Sentenced To 14 Years 53
Facebook Turned Off Search Features Used To Catch War Criminals, Child Predators, And Other Bad Actors 84
Police Use of DNA Leads To Backlash, Policy Change For GEDmatch 200
A Wave of SIM Swapping Attacks Targets Cryptocurrency Users 33
Are Amazon's 'Ring' Doorbells Creating A Massive Police Surveillance Network? 196
Drug Company To Pay Just $15.4 Million Over Doctor Bribery Scandal Involving Medicine That Brings in $1 Billion a Year 114
SEC Sues Kik Over $100 Million ICO 62
Scammers Try Elaborate Fake Job Interviews On Google Hangouts 49
Relatives' DNA Leads To Arrest -- For a 1976 Double Murder 239
Ecuador Hands Over Julian Assange's Belongings To US 227
Email Addresses and Passwords Leaked For 113,000 Users Of Account Hijacking Forum 36
Google Images + Facial Recognition Find Thief Who Looked Like Woody Harrelson 53
Chelsea Manning Sent Back To Jail For Refusing To Testify Before Grand Jury 362
Net Neutrality Supporter Sentenced For Death Threats To FCC Chairman Pai 143
GozNym Cyber-Crime Gang Which Stole Millions Busted 17
The Rise of Fear-Based Social Media Like Nextdoor, Citizen, and Now Amazon's Neighbors 291
Denver Becomes First US City To Decriminalize Psychedelic Mushrooms 276
Justice Department Shuts Dark Web Drug Directory, Arrests Alleged Owners 112
FCC Warns About 'One Ring' Robocall Scam Seeking Callbacks To a Toll Number 96
Scammers Exploit Home Rental Listings With 'Let Yourself In' Link 76
Amazon's Doorbell Company Is Selling Fear 63
How Amazon's Facial-Recognition Technology is Supercharging Local Police 86
Law Enforcement Seizes Dark Web Market After Moderator Leaks Backend Credentials 67
New York Attorney General To Investigate Facebook Email Collection 38
Ask Slashdot: Would a Separate, Walled-Off 'SafeNet' Help Reduce Cybercrime? 284
The Feds Are Dropping Child Porn Cases Instead of Revealing Their Surveillance Systems 167
The Incredibly Stupid Plot To Hijack a Domain By Breaking Into Its Owner's House With A Gun 294
Bitcoin Couldn't Hide Russia's Operatives From Mueller's Investigation 143
Student Used 'USB Killer' Device To Destroy $58,000 Worth of College Computers 235
Volkswagen's Former CEO Charged In Germany Over Diesel Rigging 62
The Rise and Fall of the Bayrob Malware Gang 54
Amazon Helps Cops Set Up Package Theft Sting Operations 135
Police Are Using Google's Location Data From 'Hundreds of Millions' of Phones 125
Silk Road 2 Founder Dread Pirate Roberts 2 Caught, Jailed for 5 Years 95
Chicago Is Tracking Kids Awaiting Trial With GPS Monitors That Can Call, Record Them Without Consent 187
Across the US, Popular Video Doorbells Are Recording their Own Thefts 132
More Jails Replace In-Person Visits With Awful Video Chat Products 260
Police Refer Teenaged Crackers For 'Second Chance' Jobs at Cyber-Security Company 69
Former Senate Staffer Admits To Doxxing Five Senators On Wikipedia 91
Facebook's Black Markets Just Keystrokes Away, Researchers Say 28
LA County Is Using An Algorithm To Clear 50,000 Pot Convictions Faster 89
US Lawmakers Propose Allowing Prisons To Jam Signals From Smuggled Cellphones 202
US Requests 12-Year Prison Sentence For Prenda 'Copyright Troll' Lawyer 66
California Man Sentenced To 20 Years In Deadly Kansas 'Swatting' 232
Security Researcher Pleads Guilty To Hacking Into Microsoft and Nintendo 53
Office Depot and Support.com To Pay $35 Million To Settle FTC Allegations That They Charged Users Millions in 'Fake' Malware Cleanup Fees 56
French Gas Stations Robbed After Forgetting To Change Gas Pump PINs 102
FTC Fines Four Operations Responsible For Billions of Illegal Robocalls 106
Dream Market, the Top Dark Web Marketplace, Will Shut Down Next Month 113
Hacking Lawyers or Journalists Is Totally Fine, Says Notorious Cyberweapons Firm 113
How The FBI Easily Retrieved Michael Cohen's Data From Both Apple and Google 153
Lithuanian Pleads Guilty To Stealing $100 Million From Google, Facebook 85
Police Officers In Berlin Had To Break Up Fight Between Supporters of Two Rival YouTubers 93
1,600 Korean Hotel Guests Were Secretly Filmed and Live-Streamed Online 103
Wells Fargo Sued By 63-Year-Old Pastor They Wrongfully Accused of Forging Checks 246
BBC Visits 'Hated and Hunted' Ransomware Expert 85
Nevada Lawmakers Want Police To Scan Cellphones After Car Crashes 263
Man Arrested For Selling One Million Netflix, Spotify, Hulu Passwords 25
Facebook's Data Deals Are Under Criminal Investigation 49
Actresses, Business Leaders, and Other Wealthy Parents Charged in Massive College Admissions Scandal 375
Japanese Police Charge 13-Year-Old Girl For Sharing 'Unclosable Popup' Code Online 132
Chelsea Manning Jailed For Refusing To Testify On WikiLeaks 461
Arizona Prosecutor Says Uber Not Criminally Liable In Fatal Self-Driving Crash 190
Workplace Theft Is On the Rise 328
Police Department Accused of Updating Their Radios With Pirated Software 143
Relative's DNA Solves A 1993 Murder Cold Case 118
Hoaxer Behind 2,400 Fake Bomb Threats Caught After Gaming Site Breach 137
Man With 3-D-Printed Gun Had Hit List of Lawmakers, US Says 277
Ex-Cons Create 'Instagram For Prisons,' and Wardens Are Fine With That 83
FBI Confiscates Six Drones Near Super Bowl Stadium 146
Teenagers Charged With 'Intimidation' After Sharing Siri's Helpful Response For A School Shooting 227
One of the Biggest At-Home DNA Testing Companies Is Working With the FBI 106
Second China-Bound Apple Car Worker Charged With Data Theft 75
Authorities Shut Down xDedic Marketplace For Buying Hacked Servers 16
FBI Arrests Three More Men Who Hired 'SWAT' Perpetrator 146
Facebook Deliberately Allowed 'Friendly Fraud' To Avoid Harming Revenue 78
Federal Prosecutors Are Investigating Huawei For Allegedly Stealing Trade Secrets, Says Report 41
Hackers Broke Into An SEC Database and Made Millions From Inside Information, Says DOJ 60
Aaron Swartz's Federal Judge Gives Anonymous Hacker 10 Years In Prison For DDoS Attacks On Children's Hospitals 227
German Police Ask Router Owners For Help In Identifying a Bomber's MAC Address 141
Grindr Harassment Victim Asks: Are Tech Companies Immune From Product Liablity Laws? 214
Hackers Threaten To Dump Insurance Files Related To 9/11 Attacks 134