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Washington Post

What is swatting, the tactic being used to target Trump Cabinet picks?

Washington Post
Summary
Nutrition label

77% Informative

“Swatting” is a form of harassment in which authorities are misled to believe that a serious threat or crime is underway.

The Department of Homeland Security defines swatting as the act of making “malicious hoax calls” to emergency services with the intent to cause “large-scale” deployment of Special Weapons and Tactics ( SWAT ) teams, bomb squads or other police resources.

At least six people selected for prominent positions said they had received threats to their homes.

Trump picks who said they received threats to their homes include: Rep. Elise Stefanik , Rep. Lee Zeldin and Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer .

Hoax callers often use caller ID spoofing to look like they’re calling from victim’s phone number.

Social engineering tactics, voice masking technology, and tactics teletypewriter.

VR Score

75

Informative language

72

Neutral language

45

Article tone

formal

Language

English

Language complexity

68

Offensive language

possibly offensive

Hate speech

not hateful

Attention-grabbing headline

not detected

Known propaganda techniques

not detected

Time-value

short-lived

External references

20

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-judge-trumps-election-case-subject-apparent-swatting-incident-2024-01-08/https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/08/28/men-charged-swatting-congress-members/?itid=lk_inline_manual_18https://www.justice.gov/usao-ks/pr/ohio-gamer-pleads-guilty-swatting-caused-deathhttps://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/fbi-formed-national-database-track-prevent-swatting-rcna91722https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/2022/08/15/keffals-adin-ross-ishowspeed-swatting-twitch-youtube/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/10/04/school-swatting-hoax-active-shooter/https://www.justice.gov/usao-ks/pr/california-man-sentenced-deadly-wichita-swatting-casehttps://www.latimes.com/archives/blogs/la-now/story/2013-01-20/kim-kardashian-decries-swatting-after-incident-at-family-homehttps://apnews.com/article/crime-police-shootings-kidnapping-wichita-1dc334273f81d08053dd4caa227023b7https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/2024-10/24_0930_opa_swatting-hoax-threats-final.pdfhttps://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/national/parkland-school-shooting-victims/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/07/24/swatting-mark-herring-tennessee-twitter/https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/news/stories/2008/february/swatting020408https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2018/06/05/someone-swatted-parkland-teen-david-hoggs-family-home/https://www.fcc.gov/general/voice-over-internet-protocol-voiphttps://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/lasvegas/news/press-releases/fbi-las-vegas-federal-fact-friday-the-dangers-of-swattinghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coa7tP54kDYhttps://edition.cnn.com/2013/03/11/showbiz/kutcher-swatting-conviction/index.htmlhttps://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/11/27/trump-cabinet-picks-swatting-bomb-threats/https://www.justice.gov/usao-ks/pr/ohio-gamer-sentenced-deadly-swatting-case

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