Online game leads to harassment, extortion for local teen
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FEDERAL WAY, Wash. -- Online bullying and Xbox extortion are new terms to dad Joe Ferreri. But allegations made to Federal Way police are no child's play. He wishes it was that way for his 13-year-old son Nicholas.
"So he wanted the Xbox," Joe said of his son. "So now he's in the big league and he's got a lot of weirdoes out there in the big league with him."
Six months ago, while playing online with friends, Nicholas said a new player began harassing them over game chat.
Suddenly, Nicholas and his dad say that harassing player took control.
"This guy had put pornography up there. He put a bunch of things up there and took control over our internet," Joe said.
Then this past Saturday, the Ferreris say the whole thing escalated to extortion.
"The guy said, 'Yeah, if you want me to leave you alone, I need $500 in a PayPal account otherwise I'm going to shut your internet down,'" Ferreri said.
Joe Ferreri called Federal Way Police, who are now working with the Xbox live security team.
Cathy Schrock with Federal Way Police said while the Ferreri's didn't fall for the money trap, parents need to be aware of what their kids are doing online.
Joe hopes something comes from the investigation and wants other families to stand up, take notice -- and fight back.
"The only way we're going to stop this kind of stuff is continually file these reports and make it known," Joe said.
"So he wanted the Xbox," Joe said of his son. "So now he's in the big league and he's got a lot of weirdoes out there in the big league with him."
Six months ago, while playing online with friends, Nicholas said a new player began harassing them over game chat.
Suddenly, Nicholas and his dad say that harassing player took control.
"This guy had put pornography up there. He put a bunch of things up there and took control over our internet," Joe said.
Then this past Saturday, the Ferreris say the whole thing escalated to extortion.
"The guy said, 'Yeah, if you want me to leave you alone, I need $500 in a PayPal account otherwise I'm going to shut your internet down,'" Ferreri said.
Joe Ferreri called Federal Way Police, who are now working with the Xbox live security team.
Cathy Schrock with Federal Way Police said while the Ferreri's didn't fall for the money trap, parents need to be aware of what their kids are doing online.
Joe hopes something comes from the investigation and wants other families to stand up, take notice -- and fight back.
"The only way we're going to stop this kind of stuff is continually file these reports and make it known," Joe said.
@iplayallgames really sad... why not block and change isp.. then report.. seems easier
@oilersguru not sure how savvy the family is-- but I bet that they aren't the only ones being extorted.
@iplayallgames no, not at all. But is simple to avoid.
@iplayallgames The systems out there have harassment complaint options.. and they act fast on these issues.
@oilersguru yeah. It is sad!
"he wanted the Xbox...so now he's in the big league" - what the heck is that even supposed to mean? these two should prob get some more exercise and mental stimulation then their exciting xbox life provides.
I'm going to show this article to my husband and son. They like to play online all the time.
That's what creeps me out about my nephew playing online. I tell him all the time not to chat with strangers and just because you played a game with stranger doesn't mean you need to add him as a "friend". He's got plenty of school buddies and even some of his Dad's friends that he can play with. I would prefer he not have the option of going online openly at all. In fact I'm going to forward this article to his Mom and Dad right now.
NC-17 for a reason..... Get the kid off the couch and on his bike or be a parent and control your internet.. Secure your Wi-Fi set up filters and don't let this kid have the primary x box live account. If the problem persists change your screen name and block the person.... News flash buddy your kid accepted this guy as a friend and probably shared or opened a file to give him access and now you look ignorant contacting the news over a very preventable situation...
There is this ignore feature... and honestly if he is getting to your router to actually mess with your internet they have a bigger problem! Ignorance of the level of control parents have of these items most take for granted now is definitely one of the biggest issues plaguing people today.. the ill informed get their computers hijacked and get exploited like this freak is trying to do... the simple solution is learn about the technology your using and actually implement REAL security!
C'mon people! XBox Live has a robust set of Parental Controls that are easy to configure. My 11 and 13 year old sons have a blast playing online with their friends locally and their cousins across the country in an environment free of strangers and creepers. Well worth a few minutes of investment to read up on and configure. Parenting well means staying on top of the technology they are using.
 @SammGirl You can also access the account online through a computer to check incoming and outgoing messages.  It all comes down to proactive parenting.
kids look older and older all the time
Put him on mute, ba bam! I don't allow my younger brother to play online games with a headset because the chats always devolve into something incredibly inappropriate, racist and derogatory...especially for a 13 year old. I've heard older players explicitly describing sexual acts to very young players and any player that's female, is relentlessly harassed. It's ridiculous but it's been going on for an entire console generation and not much has been done. Now, as far as the player 'taking control' of their internet and putting pornography on the computer? I think the 13 year old has some explaining to do, haha. Regardless, I don't blame the father..nearly everyone owns a 360 and almost all of them game online.Â
I'll tell you why this is news: Not everyone is a seasoned Internet traveler. Some parents simply check their e-mail and move on to other things ... like parenting. In this case a parent was notified by a child of misdeeds. Credible or not in the eyes of more seasoned users, the parents did actually do the right thing and report a felony to the local police department. Other parents also have NO CLUE what happens on Xbox Live or the Internet in general. How are they supposed to get this information? Sure they can waste hours of time seasoning themselves on the 'net, or, they can look to other sources of information and use those countless hours doing something else.. like, as I said before, parenting.
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Far too often we read stories about children who are, in one way or another, the product of real or perceived bad parenting. The KOMO Kommenting Krew is quick to point to a parent or a child and ascribe things such as single parenthood and drug addiction when these things are not actually known. We're quick to point to a young criminal and say that he is the product of bad parenting. Heck there was a story about a man in his 50's who was doing bad things and one of the usual suspects here said he was the product of bad parenting despite at least 32 years that he could have screwed himself up.
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My points here are this: Arming parents with information about things that could happen to their children is never a bad thing. Its not like this is a waste of paper or anything. I'm pretty sure all of these electrons are recycled. Your time is, well, worth the value you put on it and you make the choice to read these non-stories as you call them. The other point is that the KOMO Kommenting Krew repeatedly blasts bad parents and when a parent does the responsible thing in raising their child you call it BS.
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You can't have it both ways -- unless of course your real purpose to simply to complain about everything. In that case you have no real values and simply are part of the noise.
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 @Nic Stevens Nic understand that this kid didn't buy an X-Box with his own money, he did not buy the television and does not pay for the internet. With that said his parents should have a basic understanding of the fail safe options on the system, this includes but is not limited to: limited accessibility, a guest account, access to preferences and settings, appropriate gaming options, access to a headset, the ability to send and receive files and the list goes on.Â
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So while I agree with you about the community of KOMO News Goers being vastly negative on a majority of articles I also think that this is a parent who doesn't have a grip on modern technology.... The next thing he will find is his kid video chatting with another psycho...
I wish my name was Joe Ferreri... That's pretty awesome.
1) Don't use your real name in your XBox profile
2) Don't use the same user handle across multiple sites
3) Some people use their assumed anonymity to do crazy things
4) Welcome to the Internet
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 @Just_Mike Pretty much just #4. Thanks a lot Al Gore.
Is there not a way to, I don't know, ignore someone you don't wish to talk to? In any online games I have played there is such a thing as a blacklist or block option. If someone is saying things you don't want to see or harassing you then just don't reply, add them to blacklist and report them to the game moderators. It happens all the time in online games, just don't buy into someones threats. Use common sense, only the ISP can shut down your internet, not some piddly wanna be gamer. People need to understand that online gaming is not safe for children, there is too much unmoderated behavior, other players can take advantage of more gullible players easily, this is a prime example. Parents watch your children when it comes to online chat/games, its a big ugly world out there on the internet.
Sorry, NOBODY but me controls the off button of my game platform..... Jerks cannot come thru the wire. It's in the best interest of the game moderators to take care of serious attempted threats, and jerks like in this story cannot hide forever.
 @Jumblemuffin There are people that can DDoS you a kill your internet for a few minutes. A simple reboot of your network fixes the issue. We use to force host and host boot people in Halo 2. You can run programs that show all the players IP addresses in your lobby.Â
Um, block and report you idiots. Why would you let it continue? DUH!
It is no wonder our country has the highest child obesity rate! Ugh...put down the snacks and soda and get off the couch and go outside and play!
"Up there"? I'm confused by that statement. If he means through Xbox Live messages, just block the person and report him. You're letting your 13 old play an "M" rated game, there's going to be all sorts of crazies out there.
 @It doesn't matter Who said the kid was playing "M" games?  The article didn't say this.
Watch the video, about 25 seconds in the reporter says he's playing Black Ops 2. Black Ops 2 is an "M" rated game.
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Rated M
Blood and gore
Intense violence
Strong language
Suggestive themes
Use of drugs
 @It doesn't matter Ah...thanks.  Didn't watch the video of course.
Yeah....your Xbox....can't do that. Still, extortion is extortion and I would love to see the face of some little idiot when the police show up at his house. Now if only they treated identity thieves and such just as seriously......
So get off the couch and go outside and get some exercise instead of sitting there playing video games all day.Â
Also calling BS on this one. It is literally impossible for someone to "take over your Internet" via Xbox Live. If someone has managed to find a way to do that, then Microsoft's entire corporate network security system has been heavily compromised. I think we would have heard about that by now.
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This looks to me more like a case of someone getting harassed over Xbox Live and not understanding how to mute and report the offending player. :P
 @KieferSkunk Not everybody who has an XBox has only an XBox. With an IP address and the right access to botnets yes you CAN take someone's net down. Was that the case here? Probably not. Whether the threat is credible to you and me, however, the threat is made and rises to the level of extortion.
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How many 13 year-olds will report this to their parents if the are doing other questionable things on the net? Say little Joe Jr. is looking at porn and doesn't want Mom and Dad to find out? He might cough up the $500 somehow and little Johhny Extortion is off to screw with another victim.
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Why is it, when people are the victim of some crime, here on KOMO, the KOMO Kommenting Krew always blames the victim? Also, why is it, when these things are brought to light, that instead of recognizing that these incidents may be part of a larger pattern and issue, that people call BS rather than agree that there is a public notification and education aspect to the story?
And just were and how does a 13 YO come up with $500 on his own? That's a lot of birthday money.....
@chandler @Nic Stevens
I know what PayPal is and I know what theft is, and more importantly, so does my sonâ¦.
 @Nic Stevens  @dome200q paypal is so messed up, not everyone has one. And lots of people don't even know what paypal is.
 @dome200q Mom and/or Dad's Paypal account?
 @KieferSkunk Lol everyone is calling BS on this story, but I think the vital piece of information they didnt mention is this "hacker" probably got the external IP address of his xbox, and traced to back, then hacked into their computers and start posting porn and doing all kinds of crap. Easily avoidable though...Â
 @KieferSkunk I call BS also except for the fact that people can send links to sites. Being a 13 year old he may have went to these sites believing they are appropriate per the chat about gaming and they were actually child porn. At that point the perp could use a threat of reporting the kid to surfing child porn sites to authorities which could cause fear to those that mistakenly surfed to those site given in the chat. Can you record you chats on xBox Live? Is there a history?
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This should be a warning to all people that unless you physically know the person you are chatting with, you should treat all online chat participants as creeps looking to exploit anything. Never give email, phone or physical addresses or real names to anyone in a chat. Common sense for adults but not for children who are just wanting to fit in in a world where there are no rules.
Also, it is all too easy for someone to post porn into a Live game using the Kinect - they pretty much only need a light and a small screen sitting in front of the camera, or a dirty magazine, or whatever.
In my 10 years of Xbox Live I have been told that I was going to get hacked and DDoS'd at least 1,000 times. It never once has happened. It appears his 13 year old son should not be on Xbox Live if he does not know how to handle anonymous idiots. Ignore, block, report, and move on.
I am raising the BS flag on this one.
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@Seattle no need to hurl the f word for all to see, feel and touch, this early in the morning on the world wide web internet.
People please... how stupid you have to be to get extorted via Internet. Ignore, hide, report...
And , OBTW, Dad----its the internet.....Hello???????
It is the Internet with a capital I. Look it up.
@OnlyInSeattle Dude, get a life. If all you are going to do on these forums is correct grammar mistakes then you can take it elsewhere.
 @OnlyInSeattle Uh oh, it's the spelling police! Congrats for having no life.
 @BluefireJaguar  @OnlyInSeattle I have a capitalization question, do I say ebay, EBAY, eBaY, or Ebay? I've seen it all four ways.
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Are your capitalization rules valid everywhere, or only in Seattle?
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Is it proper to have a capital letter in the middle of a proper noun, as in your persona name "OnlyInSeattle"?Â
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I'm so cornfuzed
Sorry---but humans weren't put here to sit in front of a box while playing with a box and looking at a screen. These games are the biggest waste of time in the free world.
 @SandyBeach Pot, meet kettle.
 @Insomniac Dreams You don't know the first thing about me....obv.
@SandyBeach We weren't put here to sit in front of a computer either, which is also a waste of time.
 @SandyBeach I enjoy spending some of my free time playing Xbox.  It might be a waste of time to you but it's entertainment for me. Bet I find thing you're interested in to be a giant waste of time.