Former State Department employee Michael Ford was sentenced to almost five years in prison for orchestrating a widespread cyberstalking and “sextortion” campaign while working out of the U.S. embassy in London.
While stationed at the London embassy, Ford, 36, used several pseudonyms while posing as an employee of an email service provider to reach out to hundreds of women and threaten to shut down their accounts unless they sent him their passwords.
Once he had the passwords, Ford was able to access the victims’ email and social media accounts to steal revealing photos and personal information. With that information, he blackmailed the victims, threatening to release the photos and information unless they sent him “videos of ‘sexy girls’ undressing in changing rooms at pools, gyms and clothing stores,” according to the indictment.
Those who refused to comply were met with more threats, including reminders that Ford knew where the women lived. He also allegedly made good on some of these threats, sending photos to victims’ family and friends.
This activity went on for almost two and a half years, starting back in January 2013.
After an investigation, he was charged in August 2015 with multiple counts of cyberstalking and computer hacking to extort, as well as wire fraud.
“The Diplomatic Security Service is proud of the hard work of everyone involved in the investigation, including our partners at the FBI and the Department of Justice,” said DSS Director Bill Miller. “When a public servant in a position of trust commits crimes like cyberstalking and computer hacking on such a large scale, we will vigorously investigate those crimes and ensure they are brought to justice. We hope that this sentence will provide some closure for the victims.”
Ford pleaded guilty to the charges in December and was sentenced on March 21 to 57 months in prison.
“Today’s sentencing of Mr. Ford will not only hold him accountable for his despicable criminal conduct but will also deny him the ability to further victimize others,” said Special Agent in Charge J. Britt Johnson.
Along with the charges he had already pled to, prosecutors submitted additional evidence during sentencing showing that Ford attempted a similar fraud in 2009, posing as a modeling agent.
“Michael Ford hacked hundreds of email accounts, particularly targeting young women so he could extort them into sending him sexually explicit images,” Assistant Attorney General Leslie Caldwell said after his sentencing. “He preyed on vulnerable victims, leaving them with indelible emotional scars. His sentence is a necessary step in holding him to account for his crimes and helping his victims move forward with their lives.”
