A former State Department employee pleaded guilty to several charges of cyberstalking, hacking, extortion and wire fraud, most of which was conducted from his office in the U.S. Embassy in London.
Michael Ford, 36, was indicted in August and pleaded guilty on Dec. 9 to nine counts of cyberstalking, seven counts of computer hacking to extort and one count of wire fraud.
From early 2013 through May 2015, Ford used social engineering — posing as a member of a fake “account deletion team” — to get account information for hundreds of personal email and social media accounts.
Using this access, he searched for sexually explicit photos and sensitive personal information, which he then used to extort his victims into sending him more photos, as well as videos. Ford also demanded his victims take explicit photos and videos of “sexy girls” in changing rooms to send to him, as well.
Those who refused were threatened with a particularly vile form of doxxing, in which he would post the women’s photographs and contact information on websites offering escort services. He also sent explicit images of several victims to their family members when they refused to comply.
According to prosecutors, Ford sent thousands of phishing emails over the year and a half campaign and successfully hacked at least 450 accounts of some 200 victims.
“When a public servant in a position of trust commits any form of misconduct, to include federal crimes such as cyberstalking and computer hacking, we vigorously investigate such claims,” said Bill Miller, director of the State Department Diplomatic Security Service. “The Diplomatic Security Service is firmly committed to investigating and working with the Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney’s Office and our other law enforcement partners to investigate criminal allegations and bring those who commit these crimes to justice.”
Ford is scheduled for sentencing on Feb. 16.
