"You'll Never Catch Me": Police Taunted... Teenagers' Swatting Pranks Cross the Line [News Seolcham]

The term refers to deploying the FBI SWAT team
Swatting targeting celebrities and politicians rampant overseas
Advances in technology such as VPNs lead to teenage perpetrators

Editor's Note'Seolcham' is a newly coined term that means "refer to the explanation for more details." In [News Seolcham], we aim to highlight and provide further explanations for parts of the news that require fact-checking or additional clarification.

Recently, so-called "swatting" crimes have been occurring one after another, raising public concern. Swatting refers to the act of sending police officers, rescue workers, or other emergency personnel to an unrelated location through false reports or fake threats. As communication technology has advanced, methods for hiding one's identity while committing swatting have increased, leading to a rise in swatting crimes committed by minors.

Teenagers Threaten Fake Bomb Attacks on Telecom Companies, Broadcasters, and Schools

A teenager who committed a 'swatting' crime by threatening to blow up telecommunications companies and broadcasting station buildings has been arrested by the police. Yonhap News

On January 14, the Bundang Police Station in Gyeonggi Province announced that it had arrested a teenager, referred to as "A," who sent false threat messages to six locations, including the KT Bundang office, Gangnam Station, Busan Station, MBC, and SBS, and is currently investigating him on charges of public intimidation. A is accused of posting threatening messages at these six locations between January 5 and 11.

A wrote specific demands such as, "A bomb has been planted at the KT office and will be detonated at 9 p.m.," "I will blow up the broadcasting station," and "If you do not deposit 10 billion won, I will go on a stabbing rampage." He also included a Toss Bank account number under the name "Kim XX." He chose internet bulletin boards where he could post messages without any identity verification and used a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to post from an overseas IP address.

In November of last year, another teenager, referred to as "B," was apprehended after posting threats about planting explosives at high schools. At the time of the crime, B taunted the police, saying, "You will never catch me. I used a VPN to reroute five times, so you can't do anything."

Swatting Rampant Overseas... Targeting Celebrities and Politicians

Swatting is the term used for crimes that dispatch public authorities through false threats or reports. The word is a neologism that refers to sending out the SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) team, the special police force of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). In the cases involving A and B, police and fire authorities deployed dedicated personnel and used administrative resources to respond.

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) police special forces SWAT team. "Swatting" is a neologism that means dispatching public authorities such as the SWAT team. FBI website

Overseas, swatting has long been a headache for investigative authorities. In the past, swatting was typically carried out by making false phone calls to the police or fire departments, but now, with the internet, perpetrators can hide their identities and send threatening messages online. There have even been cases where swatting was planned using messenger applications such as Discord, which are headquartered overseas. In Korea, it has also been found that many teenagers who committed swatting crimes planned them on Discord.

In countries like the United States, swatting targeting celebrities is also rampant. Perpetrators use celebrities' home addresses as swatting locations to dispatch police special forces. In fact, in 2023, well-known American voice actor Ned Luke was conducting a live stream with fans at his home when police suddenly searched his house, only for him to later realize he was a victim of swatting. According to The Washington Post, since the end of 2023, there has also been a surge in swatting targeting political figures from both the Democratic and Republican parties in the United States.

US Preparing to Elevate Swatting to 'Terror-Level Crime'

Swatting is a serious crime not only because it harasses victims but also because it prevents emergency personnel from being deployed where they are actually needed in a timely manner. In January of last year, both the US House of Representatives and Senate introduced the "END SWATTING Act," which seeks to elevate swatting to a "terror-level crime" and increase penalties. The main points are: ▲ If death or serious injury occurs due to swatting, a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison can be imposed ▲ Even for simple emergency dispatches, the full cost can be recovered from the perpetrator.

In Korea, the crime of public intimidation has been in effect since March of last year. Under this law, those who threaten unspecified individuals with harm to life or physical safety can be sentenced to up to five years in prison or fined up to 20 million won.