While working out of the London offices, Michael Ford, 36, allegedly 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.
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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 allegedly 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.
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“Ford is alleged to have hacked into hundreds of email accounts and tormented women across the country by threatening to humiliate them unless they provided him with sexually explicit photos and videos,” said U.S. Attorney John Horn. “This sadistic conduct is all the more disturbing as Ford is alleged to have used the U.S. Embassy in London as a base for his cyberstalking campaign.”
Ford was charged on Aug. 18 with nine counts of cyberstalking, seven counts of computer hacking to extort and one count of wire fraud.
“According to the indictment, Ford hacked into email accounts and extorted sexually explicit images from scores of victims,” said Assistant Attorney General Leslie Caldwell. “As these allegations highlight, predators use the Internet to target innocent victims. With the help of victims and our law enforcement partners, we will find those predators and hold them accountable.”
