Cyber Crime: Gerard “Jerry” M. McTear III Charged With Threatening to Damage And Intentionally Damaging Computers

<h2>Florida Man Arrested for Forcing a San Diego Company’s Website Off-Line<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p><strong>Assistant U&period; S&period; Attorney Alexandra Foster &lpar;619&rpar; 546-6735<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"mh-content-ad"><script async src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;pagead2&period;googlesyndication&period;com&sol;pagead&sol;js&sol;adsbygoogle&period;js&quest;client&equals;ca-pub-9162800720558968"&NewLine; crossorigin&equals;"anonymous"><&sol;script>&NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle"&NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block&semi; text-align&colon;center&semi;"&NewLine; data-ad-layout&equals;"in-article"&NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"fluid"&NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-9162800720558968"&NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"1081854981"><&sol;ins>&NewLine;<script>&NewLine; &lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi;&NewLine;<&sol;script><&sol;div>&NewLine;<p>NEWS RELEASE SUMMARY – March 3&comma; 2017<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>SAN DIEGO – A Florida man was arrested this morning on charges that he intentionally shut down a San Diego software company’s website and refused to restore it until the business paid him money&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Gerard &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Jerry” M&period; McTear III was taken into custody in Ft&period; Myers&comma; Florida this morning&period; In an indictment unsealed today&comma; McTear was charged with threatening to damage and intentionally damaging computers&period; These computers hosted the San Diego software company’s website&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Specifically&comma; on June 6&comma; 2016&comma; the defendant used the internet to shut down the software company’s website&period; He sought to extort cryptocurrency from the company in return for allowing the website to resume functioning&period; The company refused to pay the proffered bribe&comma; and lost over &dollar;5&comma;000 in business as they worked to get their website back on-line&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The defendant was arraigned today in the United States District Court for the Fort Myers Division&comma; Middle District of Florida&period; The United States will seek his removal to the Southern District of California to face charges here&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;This kind of sabotage can be devastating for companies&comma;” said Acting U&period;S&period; Attorney Alana W&period; Robinson&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;We are prepared to go after every type of criminal&comma; even if we have to chase him or her through cyberspace to safeguard businesses&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The FBI has the expertise and resources to investigate denial of service and other evolving cyber crimes&comma;” said Eric S&period; Birnbaum&comma; Special Agent in charge of the FBI’s San Diego Field Office&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;This case is an example of the trend we continue to see involving traditional crimes migrating to cyberspace&period; The FBI will continue to educate and work with the business community to combat this growing crime trend&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>These type of cyber attacks have recently become widespread and cyber agents with the FBI are investigating similar cases&period; The FBI encourages businesses that have been victimized to ignore ransom demands in order to avoid appearing vulnerable and to avoid being targeted again for a higher amount&period; Anyone who feels they have been a victim of a cyber crime involving extortion or denial of service attacks is encouraged to contact their local FBI or to file a complaint through the Internet Crime Complaint Center at www&period;ic3&period;gov&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>DEFENDANT Case Number&colon; 17-CR-0501-JAH<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Gerard &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Jerry” M&period; McTear&comma; III Age&colon;29 Ft&period; Myers&comma; FL<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>SUMMARY OF CHARGES<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Count 1 – Fraud in Connection with Computers&comma; in violation of 18 U&period;S&period;C&period; §§ 1030&lpar;a&rpar;&lpar;5&rpar;&lpar;A&rpar; and 1030&lpar;c&rpar;&lpar;4&rpar;&lpar;B&rpar;&lpar;i&rpar;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Maximum Penalty&colon; 10 years and &dollar;250&comma;000 fine<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Count 2 – Threat to Damage a Computer&comma; in violation of 18 U&period;S&period;C&period; §§ 1030&lpar;a&rpar;&lpar;7&rpar;&lpar;A&rpar; and 1030&lpar;c&rpar;&lpar;3&rpar;&lpar;A&rpar;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Maximum Penalty&colon; 5 years and &dollar;250&comma;000 fine<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Count 3 &&num;8211&semi; Threat to Injure Property Through Interstate Communications&comma; in violation of 18 U&period;S&period;C&period; § 875&lpar;d&rpar;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Maximum Penalty&colon; 2 years and &dollar;250&comma;000 fine<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>AGENCY<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Federal Bureau of Investigation&colon; San Diego Division and Tampa Division &&num;8211&semi; Fort Myers Resident Agency&semi; Lee County Sheriff&&num;8217&semi;s Office&semi; Fort Myers Police Department&semi; and Cape Coral Police Department<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&ast;The charges and allegations contained in an indictment are merely accusations&period; Defendants are considered innocent unless and until proven guilty&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;

Cyber Crime