Swatting hoaxer admits to scheme targeting dozens of members of Congress and social media influencers

CBS News

2 days ago

Thomasz Szabo was an invisible menace, according to federal prosecutors. His alleged targets: They are quite visible.
Szabo, a Romanian national, has pleaded guilty to leading a scheme to target dozens of politicians and social media influencers with a wave of "swatting" attacks.
According to court filings, Szabo began building a network of "swatters" in 2018 to unleash havoc on public figures in the United States.
In a swatting hoax, a false emergency call is made to police to lure a SWAT team to a target's home. The swatting call often falsely claims a mass shooting or hostage situation is underway, so as to create an exceptionally large police response and raise the risk of a confrontation at the victim's home.
According to the Justice Department, "Szabo made false reports to U.S. law enforcement including a threat in December 2020 to commit a mass shooting at New York City synagogues, and a threat in January 2021 to detonate explosives at the U.S. Capitol and kill the President-elect"—likely referring to Joe Biden.
A plea agreement reviewed by CBS News said Szabo's co-conspirators also targeted at least 25 members of Congress or their families, six executive branch officials and Cabinet members, judges, members of the media and at least two dozen former government officials.
He was extradited from Romania late last year and will be sentenced on federal conspiracy and threat charges in October.
According to the court filings, Szabo's conspiracy sought to victimize targets with large audiences and social media followings, amplifying the impact of the attacks. "The defendant sought to target those who would react publicly to having been swatted." His plea agreement said Szabo's conspiracy would target "streamers" who were broadcasting or speaking to an audience online during the attacks.
Among those who say they were targeted was a prolific conservative social media figure known as "Catturd," who posted earlier this week to his 3 million X followers, "This is the guy who swatted me the first three times."
Szabo publicized his "swatting" activity to his followers and encouraged them to engage in similar behavior, court documents say. Prosecutors said, "One of (his) subordinates bragged to Szabo: 'I did 25+ swattings today," and, 'creating massive havoc in [A]merica. $500,000+ in taxpayers wasted in just two days."
Szabo sought to find and inspire others to execute swattings, according to the Justice Department.
Former Department of Homeland Security Undersecretary of Intelligence John Cohen told CBS News, "Increasingly, swatters are doing more than just incentivizing or inspiring attacks. We are seeing the posting of content that is intended to give people detailed instructions on how to carry out the activity."
Cohen said the technology and techniques employed by swatters are becoming more sophisticated and potent. "If a swatting call involves reporting a fictitious active shooter event, they'll use artificial intelligence-generated sound effects depicting the sounds of gunfire. That's meant to give it credibility," Cohen said.
In Szabo's case, prosecutors alleged he used an internet-based phone platform to execute some hoaxes, which could mask identifying information about Szabo or his co-conspirators.
Although charging documents do not name which members of Congress were targeted and disrupted by Szabo or his co-conspirators, several lawmakers have publicly acknowledged being victims of recent swatting attacks across the country.
In a 2023 case spotlighted by CBS News, then-Rep. Brandon Williams, a central New York Republican, said the swatting happened on Christmas Day at his home. Williams told CBS News, "I organized my family in the kitchen and told them to hang out and keep their hands visible," to avoid any confusion by officers when police arrived. Williams said the swatting attack put his family in danger. After the police came inside to confirm the call was a hoax, Williams said he began packing the deputies bags with his holiday cookies.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican, has publicly posted about a series of recent swatting incidents, including one on Christmas Day 2023, the same day Williams was targeted. Greene wrote on social media at the time, "I was just swatted. This is like the 8th time. On Christmas with my family here. My local police are the GREATEST and shouldn't have to deal with this."
Two other high-profile swatting victims from December 2023: Special Counsel Jack Smith and U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who prosecuted and oversaw one of the federal criminal cases against President Trump, respectively.
Swatting has vexed law enforcement for years — wasting police resources and, in at least one 2017 case unrelated to Szabo, ending in a fatal police shooting. Authorities are also contending with a rise in threats against public officials — from lawmakers to judges and prosecutors — including an eerie and menacing trend in which judges are sent unsolicited pizza orders, indicating that some unknown person knows their personal address.
Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a statement about Szabo's guilty plea in federal court in Washington, D.C.
"This defendant led a dangerous swatting criminal conspiracy, deliberately threatening dozens of government officials with violent hoaxes and targeting our nation's security infrastructure from behind a screen overseas," Bondi said.