85 Members of Congress Demand Holder Investigate SWATting Cases

Dear Attorney General Holder:We write you concerning the growing threat of "SWAT-ting" and its costly ramifications. These crimes occur when individuals call emergency dispatchers pursuant to this agreement the guise of another person’s name with fraudulent claims, causing local law enforcement to swarm the home of innocent Americans. SWAT-ting first arose in 2002, however as innovation and the Internet has expanded, the dangers of SWAT-ting are as well on the rise.

Investigators have concluded that the majority of SWAT-ting cases utilize voice over Internet connections between the suspect’s computer and a distant telephone network, and at the time dialing 911. This enables the suspect to falsify their identifying information, just as their telephone number and address, and make it near impossible for emergency dispatchers to identify or track the true origin of the call, or even pin-point calls from VOIP connections.

Some of these calls involve embellished schemes, including armed suspects and hostages, and in some instances, the caller claims that he has just killed someone. In addition, the caller knowingly uses the identifying information of another person, who is mostly an adversary of the caller. This elaborate hoax is all done with the goal of having law enforcement swarm the home of the caller’s foe, which only incites fear in and tarnishes the reputation of an innocent person.