Latest news with #SumterCountySheriff'sOffice
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Ringleader of bank fraud and identity theft scheme sentenced to federal prison
GEORGIA () — The final defendant and ringleader of a bank fraud and aggravated identity theft scheme involving stolen checks and a fake online recruiting website was sentenced to federal prison today. Jalen Tylee Hill, aka 'Roscoe Hill,' 26, of Americus, was sentenced to serve 81 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. According to court documents and statements made in court, the Sumter County Sheriff's Office received a complaint from a local church in December 2021 about mail theft and forged checks. During the investigation, law enforcement discovered that numerous checks had been stolen out of mailboxes at residential and commercial locations in Georgia. The checks were then forged and deposited into other bank accounts. PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Sumter County Sheriff's Office arrest man on multiple counts of bank fraud; identity theft Investigators discovered that Hill directed the scheme and would recruit people via Facebook and determined that in six months, Hill stole hundreds of pieces of mail, participated in at least 68 incidents of bank fraud, and unlawfully used debit cards belonging to other individuals at least 14 occasions. 'Schemes to defraud and steal from citizens will not be tolerated in the Middle District of Georgia,' said Acting U.S. Attorney C. Shanelle Booker. 'This case serves as a reminder for all of us to be as vigilant as possible with what we share online and monitor our financial accounts. I commend the good investigative work of our local and federal law enforcement partners for helping to prevent any more people and businesses from falling victim to this fraud.' 14 others were also convicted for their participation in the scheme. RELATED COVERAGE: Two Columbus, seven Americus defendants indicted in alleged stolen mail scheme Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Yahoo
Russian hackers claim responsibility for hacking Central Florida medical group
The Russian hacking group who targeted the Sumter County Sheriff's Office last year now says it hacked a local medical group. The criminal ransomware gang claims it stole social security numbers, medical records, and passport information from Florida Lung, Asthma and Sleep Specialists (FLASS). The medical group has five offices in Orlando, Winter Garden, Lake Nona, Poinciana and Kissimmee. They're demanding six bitcoins which are worth about $650,000. FLASS tells Channel 9 it has no knowledge of compromised patient information but has reported the attack to the FBI. Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Yahoo
Search underway after 13-year-old girl reported missing in Sumter County
Crews are out searching Thursday morning after a 13-year-old girl was reported missing in Sumter County. Deputies said Addisyn Brown was last seen around 9 p.m. Wednesday in the area of CR-645 near Nobleton. She is around 5 feet 5 inches tall and 120 pounds with brown hair and amber eyes. Deputies said she was last seen wearing Pajama pants and a dark-colored shirt, but it's unknown if she is still dressed the same way. Investigators said she may have a black and white backpack and a flowered bag. The Sumter County Sheriff's Office said it has K9s tracking for her on the ground, along with a helicopter and drones searching from the air. Anyone with information on her whereabouts is asked to call 911 or 352-793-2621. Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
Yahoo
04-05-2025
- Yahoo
A vehicle was repossessed then shots were fired during a chase, SC cops say
A South Carolina man was arrested following a chase on Interstate 95 where shots were fired, according to the Sumter County Sheriff's Office. Md Z Islam Epte, a 30-year-old Lynchburg resident, was charged with pointing and presenting a firearm on May 1, the sheriff's office said in a news release. The incident began after a vehicle was repossessed, according to the release. Deputies responded to a call about gunfire on Two Mile Road, the sheriff's office said. The caller, referred to as the victim by the sheriff's office, had just repossessed the vehicle and told an emergency dispatcher they were being pursued and targeted in a shooting, according to the release. The victim told the dispatcher they were driving north on I-95 when the shooting suspect, later identified as Epte, was shining a light with a red dot at them and attempting to force them off the highway, the sheriff's office said. Both the South Carolina Highway Patrol and the Florence County Sheriff's Office were alerted and positioned multiple units near mile marker 164, according to the release. When Epte's vehicle arrived, troopers and deputies conducted a traffic stop and detained him, the Sumter County Sheriff's Office said. An AR-style rifle and a handgun were found during a search of the vehicle Epte was driving, and he was arrested, according to the release. Epte was taken to the Sumter County Sheriff's Office Detention Center and released on $10,000 bond, the sheriff's office said. Despite the arrest, both the shooting and chase continue to be investigated, according to the sheriff's office.
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Yahoo
Sumter County Sheriff's Office in final stages of recovery after Russian ransomware attack
Nine months after a ransomware attack took the Sumter County Sheriff's Office completely offline, 9 Investigates is getting an inside look at the hit the agency took. 9 Investigates first brought you the story last August after a Russian criminal group, Rhysida, claimed responsibility for the cyber-attack. The agency is now in its final phases of recovery. 'Witness statement, victim statements, things of that nature are all having to be re-entered into the computer system as well,' said Michelle Keszey, Sumter County records manager. Keszey in part oversees the large project of typing up, scanning and uploading records from the four months the agency relied on just pen and paper. 'There were approximately 1,500 crash reports that took place during our time down. And she is averaging about 10 a day,' Keszey said. 'Until the system was safe to be scanned in so it kind of just stacked up,' said Sheriff Pat Breeden. Sheriff Breeden took office that November while the agency was still offline. 'Our newer deputies are used to doing everything electronically,' Breeden said. 'Well now we're back to handwriting reports and we're handwriting tickets,' he said, recalling the challenges over the four months. This was after Rhysida claimed to have infiltrated the agency's system in August 2024. 'We started having some problems with our dispatch one night and dispatch is like, some stuff's not working, something's not right,' Breeden said, Authorities later discovered the hackers got in from an external hard drive infected with a virus that an employee brought in. 'We discovered that this had actually been brought in several months prior to the hack and it just kind of sit there in limbo waiting,' Breeden said. Rhysida posted on the dark web, claiming they stole nearly a terabyte of data. They claimed the data would end up on the dark web, if the Sheriff's Office didn't pay their ransom, seven bitcoins or about $425,000. 'How scary of a time was that for you guys?,' Webb asked. 'I was very scared because, you know, we have employees and we have citizens' information,' Breeden said. The Sheriff's Office told us they didn't believe the cybercriminals ever uploaded the stolen records to the dark web. 'They have available for download, they claim 839 gigabytes of data across over 160,000 files,' said Luke Connolly, threat intelligence analyst for Emsisoft. 'That could easily go back decades, especially for a small town sheriff.' Connolly says it's highly likely the hackers had extended access to the Sheriff's Office database based on the amount of data they claim to have released. He says the hackers aren't charging for downloads of the stolen material. Our sources did not download the data that the hacker group claimed to have stolen because of the ethical concerns and also the risk of downloading malware. With that, we don't know what all this data could potentially include, including social security or banking information. The Sheriff's Office says authorities are looking to prosecute the Russian group responsible. Now, the agency is in it's final stages of recovery. Breeden says the most challenging time was when authorities were working to confirm hackers no longer had access to the agency's system-- what the Sheriff described as 'cleaning house.' 'The hardest part was to analyze everything to make sure our systems are now safe to go back online. So, doing that, we have to backlog everything we did in that time period, let's say between August and now. So everything's on paper.' Connolly says the hackers likely were not targeting the Sheriff's Office, but there are records of value in the agency. 'Money, information, you know, they get anything they can because if they can get people's identities, they're looking to do identity theft, they are looking to steal anything they can to make a dollar,' Breeden said. The Sheriff also says they are retraining employees on cybersecurity. They're now almost back to what they were before August 2024, and the Sheriff's Office says they're now even stronger. Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
