A self-proclaimed leader of an online group linked to the violent extremist network The Com tells WIRED he is responsible for the flurry of hoax active-shooter alerts at universities across the US in recent days as students return to school.
Known online as Gores, the person says he coleads a group called Purgatory, which is offering its followers a menu of services, including hoax threats against schools—known as swatting—for just $20, while faked threats against hospitals, businesses, and airports can cost up to $50. The group also offered “slashings” and “brickings” for as little as $10, according to a review of the group’s Telegram channel by WIRED, apparently referencing real-world violence.
In recent days, however, as the incidents were reported in the media, the prices have skyrocketed, with a school swatting now costing $95 and brickings costing $35.
The group has been linked to 764, a nihilistic subgroup of The Com that conducts targeted campaigns against children using extortion, doxing, swatting, and harassment. Members of 764 have been accused of everything from robbery to sexual abuse of minors, kidnapping, and murder.
Since the swatting spree kicked off on August 21, around a dozen different universities have been targeted with 911 emergency calls, some having to issue alerts on multiple occasions after receiving multiple hoax calls. Gores tells WIRED that the group had earned around $100,000 since the swatting spree began. WIRED has not independently confirmed that figure.
As well as the confirmation from Gores, two researchers who spoke to WIRED confirmed that they had both listened to the group conducting swatting calls on audio livestreams as they happened in recent days. In at least one case, a researcher was able to intercede and call the targeted institution to inform them that the call was a hoax.
WIRED reviewed recordings of the swatting calls provided by the researchers and has been reviewing the Telegram channel run by Purgatory, where members of the group have been celebrating media coverage of their calls in recent days, including the swatting attempt on the University of Colorado Boulder on Monday afternoon.
Nicole Mueksch, a spokesperson for the University of Colorado Boulder, tells WIRED that the incident remains under investigation, adding that university police are working with “state and federal partners, including the FBI, to explore any potential leads or patterns that may be connected to other recent swatting cases across the country.”
The FBI told The Washington Post that it’s investigating and, in a statement to The New York Times, said it is “seeing an increase in swatting events across the country, and we take potential hoax threats very seriously because it puts innocent people at risk.” The agency did not immediately respond to WIRED’s request for comment.
“Knowingly providing false information to emergency service agencies about a possible threat to life drains law enforcement resources, costs thousands of dollars and, most importantly, puts innocent people at risk,” the FBI added.
The recent swatting spree began on August 21, the same day the current Purgatory Telegram channel was launched. At around 12:30 pm local time that day, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga received a call claiming an active shooter was on campus. The school was locked down for over an hour before campus police issued an all-clear at 1:51 pm after no threat was found. Hours later, at Villanova University in Pennsylvania, a hoax call forced the school into lockdown as students and faculty took part in the university’s orientation mass to welcome new students.