[AKA: Arthur Murphy, Ion Murphy, Captain Zap, Ravenswood, IAM/Secure, IAM/Secure Data
Systems,
IAM/SDS Secure Data Systems, Covenstead Farms, Ravenswood Farms, Brooms Crossing, Continental
Telephone,
ravensceo, raven, ravenceo, ravenceo1, ravensceo1, raven1, covenstead, iamsecure,
iamsecuredata, iam, ianamurphy,
ianmurphy, arthurmurphy, wajapoco, wajapococpu, wajapocomputer,
and dozens of aliases]
Ian A. Murphy is nothing more than a middle aged convicted felon, con artist and petty thief with a long history of running scams. He has virtually no technical skills (which should be obvious), no formal education, no computer training, and no security training. He knows just enough computer lingo and jargon to baffle his audience (provided they lack a technical background). He claims to have been employed by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) as a member of a covert assassination team, and also claims to have been a Navy SEAL. Subject claims to have been taught information warfare by the National Security Agency (NSA). His tradecraft is very poor, and the official records indicate that his claims are totally false. Official government documents indicate that he was never an employee, nor a contractor. It should be mentioned that the subject has been committed to psychiatric facilities several times for "being delusional".
Official Navy documents indicate that the subject enlisted for duty on 6/27/74 in Philadelphia, PA. However, he never made it through boot camp at Great Lakes Naval Training Center. Ian was thrown out after several weeks, and listed as "unsuitable for military service". Officially since he never graduated from Boot Camp the Navy never offered him any type of job. He was given an General Discharge (which is bad news), and was never given any awards or decorations. The Navy confiscated all uniforms, clothes, and equipment from him and literally tossed him out with only the clothes on his back, and a one way bus ticket home. Navy records indicated the he was a high school drop out with no technical training. Despite what Ian has repeatedly claimed, he was never a Navy SEAL, never a Green Beret, Ranger, Spec Ops, etc.
Ian has also claimed on numerous occasions, to multiple people, and on a printed resume he was passing around in 1996 that he is a retired Navy SEAL, that he is a CIA Agent, a covert operative, claims he was awarded two Congressional Medal of Honor, a Silver Star, numerous purple hearts, and so on. The only problem is that he was only in the Navy long enough for them to toss him out during the first two weeks of boot camp.
He knows how to pretend, is a fluent liar, and easily cons those victims who take him at face value. If the scam victim had performed even the slightest due diligence they would have found that the subject had used a bogus address and business name. The subject has a long history of computer and Internet fraud, and commonly sets up multiple bogus accounts with an ISP (often using a stolen credit card or check). He will then run up hundred of dollars in charges and never pay a penny on the account.
One of his favorite scams is to contact an attorney or private investigator, and engage them for some type of investigative or harassment project. Of course the victims never see a penny from the subject, and will usually just write it off as bad debt (even though it involves thousands of dollars). More often then not, he will go to an attorney and beg them to take his harassment case on a Pro Bono basis, if the attorney agrees to represent him they get a tough lesson on dealing with an out of control felon and mental patient and end up quickly dropping him as a client before they get officially sanctioned for misconduct or terrorized by Murphy when they refuse to break the law.
The victim will usually opt not to sue Ian or pursue criminal fraud charges as security people tend to be really upset when THEY are the con victim. If the victim tries to pursue the matter Ian will then attempt blackmail and will threaten to make public how easy it was to con them (which could be bad for the victims business).
Ian Murphy has a history of making terroristic threats including specific threats to sabotage and blow up a Nuclear Power Plant, and has a history of threatening and attempting arson. He has also threatened to kill federal law enforcement officers (FBI and Secret Service). Subject has made numerous bomb threats, and has made comments regarding his proficiency with and access to high explosives (stolen from a coal mine). Subject also has a history of making bomb, burglary, murder and arson threats.
The subject is fearful of the police, and of the judicial system (due to his numerous arrests, criminal convictions, and periods of being institutionalized). While he does exhibit tremendous "fear of the law" he also has a history of abusing law enforcement officials (who generally consider him a crank and crackpot). Many law enforcement agencies in the Philadelphia area and Tampa, Florida actually have special coffee mugs for him to use as he visits so often (usually complaining about Covert Conspiracies, UFO's, CIA Buggings, Alien Implants, Alien Abductions, or whatever else strikes his fancy that day).
He has a history of fabricating wild (and delusional) claims and accusations. Often he will threaten lawsuits, and legal action or will forge court document to try to scare a victims. His threats are those commonly used by career criminals. He is big on threats, but nothing actually happens.
Ian Murphy has a serious pathology which lends itself to violence (mostly against women and young girls), and has been arrested numerous time for assault and domestic violence. He has a long history of yelling and screaming (like a four year old) when he doesn't get his way, and will often resort to physical violence after one of his "screaming fits".
Ian A. Murphy also has a very extensive history of criminal telephone harassment, and typically calls several dozens times a day (often late at night, and in the early morning hours). He also likes to fax victims long multi-page raving threat and harassment letters. Over the years Ian Murphy has repeatedly harassed, threatened, slandered, libeled, and generally annoyed and stalked the author of this page. Ian has communicated multiple bomb threats, threats of murder, assassination threats, arson threats, and stalked the author. The tone of these communications has gone from insults and harassment to more recent threats involving cyber-stalking and threats clearly of a terroristic nature. On several previous occasions, he has called the authors office and late at night and launched into a screaming fit.
He has made many of these threats via direct email, via guestbook entries, and on his website. Ian Murphy has also repeatedly called the author with obscene and harassing calls laced with screaming threats and has stated things that any normal person would find disgusting. On several occasions Ian Murphy was stupid enough to leave these messages on voice mail when someone didn't answer the phone, he provided clean recordings of this criminal behavior (which are in the hands of police). Copies of these voice mails absolutely prove that Ian Murphy has been engaging in a long term course of harassment, and have been stalking the author of this page. When this is combined with the email messages, postings and so on a solid felony case can be made against Mr. Murphy.
During these threatening tirades he also took the time to send numerous similar email messages of an obscene and harassing nature (with much of the same verbiage as his phone calls), and visited the authors website signing the guestbook with similar obscene and harassing materials. The IP address he was using for the email and guestbook threats where traced to his girlfriends Earthlink account (in St. Pete Beach, Florida).
Several years back, when he was living in Plymouth, MA; Ian Murphy contacted the author and tried to gain employment. Even the most basic of interviews or meetings was refused as he obviously lying about his credentials and trying to defraud the author. Ian's resume was fully of absolute falsehoods, and his list of credentials was obviously bogus. When he was refused employment or even an interview, Ian initiated a series of harassing phone calls against the author and launched into numerous screaming tirades over the phone.
A few weeks later Mr. Murphy attempted a publicity stunt with the Boston Globe which back fired on him (re: U4EA and Boston Globe hoax covered further in this page), and when that failed he went on a stalking campaign against his landlord and actually tried to burn down her house (in Plymouth, MA). When he found out the Police Department in Plymouth, MA and the District Attorney wanted to talk to him about the arson attempt he committed himself to a psychiatric hospital. After the psychiatric hospital discharged him he again moved back into his elderly parents house in Philadelphia, and when they tossed him out eventually moved in with another girlfriend in Upper Darby, PA.
A short time later Ian Murphy was arrested (in pink bunny ears no less) on an outstanding bench warrant for jumping probation and fleeing to another state (on a second felony). The author later found out that Ian had jumped probation, moved to Mass., and was trying get the author to hire Ian while he was actually a fugitive from justice (and a twice convicted career felon). Ian Murphy blamed the author of this page for "ruining his life" when he refused to hire him, which caused him to have a mental breakdown, caused him to get evicted, got him sued, and in turn forced him to move back to Philadelphia and get picked up on the outstanding arrest warrants.
When Ian got out of prison (for jumping probation) he started a harassment campaign against the author via the Internet, and committed a variety of criminal deeds including sending bomb threats and threats of murder.According to his ex-girlfriend (who he beat up) at one point Ian actually tried to hire a hit man to kill the author, but had problems getting together enough money.
On a related matter, during the Fall of 1997 Ian Murphy stole a number of copyrighted graphics and text from this authors website, and blatantly copied them to his own site. Not realizing that the site was his (it was under an alias), the author sent the site owner and ISP a series of email politely requesting removal of the offending materials (which where ignored). After several weeks the author contacted the ISP where the files were hosted, and proved to them that the materials being used constituted a criminal violation. They investigated, agreed, and promptly deleted the materials in question, and further discovered they were hosted on a fraudulent account which they shutdown. Mr. Murphy then cranked up another round of series of obscene phone calls, and harassing e-mail/messages which where all traced to him using aliases. In turn this resulted in him be bounced off dozens of ISPs (where he had set up fraudulent accounts).
He has clearly violated both FSA 784.048-2, and FSA 784-836.10. He has also violated FSA 365.16, and along the way committed numerous misdemeanors, several second-degree felonies, and at least one third-degree felony. As he has already been convicted twice of felonies this would represent his third round of felony convictions. As it applies to FSA, 784 he has clearly harassed the author and exhibited a long term course of conduct while in Florida. He has exhibited a credible threat, and he has placed the author in reasonable fear of death or bodily injury. Also, he has both composed and sent threats to kill the author or do bodily injury.
As it applies to FSA 365.16 Ian A. Murphy has clearly placed telephone calls from Florida that any a normal person would find lewd, disgusting, obscene, filthy, vulgar, etc. Since there were multiple phone calls he clearly violated the law with the clear intent to harass, annoy, threaten, and terrorize (in both Florida and Mass.). Also, Mass General Law c. 269 s 14A was clearly violated as he made three or more calls, his language was both indecent and obscene, and his contact was clearly to harasses and molest.
We have collected thousands of pages of records on the subject and his associates.
These records consist of court documents, interviews, criminal complaints, civil complaints, restraining orders, psychiatric commitment records, incident reports, arrest documents, bench warrants, parole applications, birth certificates, probation records, military records and hundreds of pages of related documents. What follows is a very small fraction of what we have indexed to date.
We have had numerous requests for the "1981" documents, low resolution versions have now been placed on-line for fast browser loading and direct downloading. Please Email if you would like high resolution versions of the documents provided to you. This is only a partial list of legal, police, and court documents regarding the subject, and it is noway inclusive. Please contact us if you need any further information.
Ian is currently living in Florida in the Tampa and Saint Petersburg area, and is believed to be again involved with Winn Schwartau, Xxxx Xxxx, and their various interrelated business activities. When he moved to Florida Ian repeatedly claimed that he was going to be working for/with Winn and Xxxx; however both of them claim that this is not true.
When Ian initially sets up a new Internet account he typically tells the new ISP that he is a "computer security expert" and that cyber-terrorists have been stalking him. He will then launch into long paranoid rants and raving diatribes about how people are spoofing his IP address and how "they" keep getting him into trouble with the authorities. The subject will usually "lay low" for a few weeks with the new ISP, but after a short time he will be up to mischief again (usually when he's off his psychiatric medications). The subject will then start sending out bomb threats, threats of grave bodily harm, and will threaten to crash and hack into a victims computers.
One of his favorite games is to forge Email headers and to sent out third party threat letters. However, since his computer and technical skills are very poor it is very easy to trace the headers back to his accounts. Often these messages are sent under a false name, but the end result is that Ian Murphy will approach the victim (he has been harassing under an alias) and offer to "catch the person terrorizing them for a small fee". Eventually he engages in so much mischief (or doesn't pay his bill) that his ISP cancels his account. The subject will then call the customer support line (usually late at night) and try to "social engineer" the technical staff to get his account re-activated.
Ian A. Murphy also has a history of "Social Engineering" other people accounts, and more than a few times has set up a bogus account using this method. He also has a history of calling an ISP and conning them into modifying someone elses account, and "pretexting" them to illegally obtain confidential information about the account holder (usually billing and credit card information). He often falsely claims to be the victim of electronic harassment, which he will of course be unable to prove or provide any specific details regarding his claims. More than a few times he has called an ISP and claimed to be an FBI or Secret Service agent and demanded that they provide him with confidential user information.
He loves to claim that tormenters are engaging in "Information Warfare" against him, and will claim "they" are doing this (whoever "they" are) because he is a computer security expert. Of course when he is asked to provide specific evidence of this activity none is produced. One thing to keep in mind is that Ian Murphy has been clinically diagnosed as being severely delusional, and has been classified as have a "stalker obsession". There have been multiple restraining orders issued against him, and has been arrested numerous times for assault, domestic abuse, stalking, etc.
Ian has very poor technical skills, and has humiliated himself more then a few times when a customer (or reporter) asked him a simple technical question that he was unable to answer. While he claims to be a computer expert his computer skills are so poor that he lacks the basic ability to install PC cards, initialize a hard drive, or to perform simple repairs or technical support. Ian often hauls his entire CPU down to his local computer store and begs them to fix his computer. These stores have indicated that they consider him a real joke, and refuse to help him unless he pays cash-in-advance for all work. His most common technical problems are virus infection, and file structure corruption.
Recently, the subject was evicted by his landlord for nonpayment of rent and for stealing and illegally using the landlords credit cards (and other things). During the eviction the subjects computer was "lost" for several months (something about money he owned the landlord for phone bills). By the time the subject "found" his computer (after the phone bills were paid) someone had gained access to the CPU and copied all of the hard drive contents (and installed sniffer software).
Subject has recently used the following fraudulent company names:
In an attempt of obtain pity, subject often scams victims with stories that he suffers from various types of terminal medical problems (ie: Brain Tumor, Heart Attack, Cancer Spleen, Throat Cancer, Hemorrhoids, Prostate Cancer, Rectal Problems, Lung Cancer, etc.). When his claims of physical problems fail to gain him pity he tells stories about how he was sexually molested in boarding school or by his older brother, or father, priest, janitor, etc...
There is no mention of any computer hacking in any of these cases. The only mention of anything remotely related to computers was petty theft (he had children steal for him). There is no indication of hacking, phone phreaking, or any type of computer break-in activity as claimed by the subject, just stealing, fraud, and theft.
Court documents indicate that Ian was an "Unskilled, and Unemployed Air Conditioning Installer" (not a computer expert) at the time of his 1981 arrest, and that while on probation he was either unemployed, working as a taxi driver, or working for a vending machine company (filling candy and coke machines). His formal education is limited to the first few years of high school (he was kicked out early).
Ian's "career as a master hacker" was fabricated in 1986 after he and his unemployed wife decided to form some type of business. Ian had reportedly been "unable to keep a real job." His wife had been a public relations specialist, and she helped him to capitalize on his (ignominious) 1981 conviction. Due to this heavy public relations campaign by his wife, Ian was able to obtain "exaggerated" magazine and newspaper interviews.
Mrs. Murphy has since publicly renounced Ian and has worked to expose him as a con artist and thief "...who has never done an honest thing in his life".
In any event; apparently, none of the reporters verified what Ian and his wife had told them, and the (dubious) "legend" was hit upon. A number of reporters were strongly rebuked by their editors for not verifying their stories before running the articles.
However, we have verified everything, and have thousands of pages of documents...
As you can see by reading this Bill of Information, Ian Murphy was never charged with any type of computer and phone phreaker crimes. Instead, he was charged with theft, period.
Synopsis:
Subject (Ian A. Murphy) and his associates created a series of fictional companies and set up mail drops under a variety of false names. The subject then issued bogus purchase orders for goods and services under the names of the fake companies using the mail drop addresses. He and his associates contacted Dun and Bradstreet and "social engineered" a decent credit file with fraudulent documents.
These ordered materials were then delivered to the mail drop address. Materials were picked up by juvenile high school students and delivered to the subject. Subject then removed the external serial numbers, and then transferred the goods to his associates in exchange for other stolen goods, services, drugs, etc. Purchase orders, identification documents, business cards, letterhead, and other bogus corporate documents were forged in furtherance of the frauds.
Court documents indicate that the subject is a petty thief, forger, fence, liar, and con artist (not a hacker or phone phreaker). There is no mention in any of these court documents of any type of computer hacking activities or phone phreaking activities (only theft of computer equipment and supplies).
Ian Murphy utilized a variety of false name including "John Livingston". He also utilized a series of fake company names including "Continental Telephone Company".
Ian has bragged (to reporters) that he and his associates were able to steal over $412,000 dollars in merchandise (court records indicate it was more like $87,500).
Docket - Transcript B876615-5
Criminal Complaint B876615-5
This criminal complaint only mentions theft, not computer crime, and most certainly nothing about hacking into the White House, Ma Bell, tweaking of phone company billing records, or anything else.
Bill of Cost/Fines
December 1992 - Arrest for Falsification, Felony Forgery, and
other charges
Montgomery County Criminal Justice System (PA)
Police Report
Incident Report
Arrest Record
Criminal Complaint 863-93
Transcript 863-93
Bills of Information
Docket - Transcript 863-93
Guilty Plea 863-93
Suspension of Drivers License
Incarceration Record
Parole Violation (03/21/94)
Bench Warrant (03/21/94)
Parole Violation (08/05/94)
Bench Warrant (08/05/94)
Parole Violation (11/07/94)
Bench Warrant (11/07/94)
Arrest Record (11/07/94)
Bail Record (11/07/94)
Parole Violation (02/12/96)
Bench Warrant (02/12/96)
Parole Violation (03/26/96)
Bench Warrant (03/26/96)
Arrest Record (11/07/96)
Bail Record (12/03/96)
Probation Record
April 94 - Vehicle Theft, Drunk Driving, Driving on a Suspended License,
Montgomery County Criminal Justice System (PA)
Police Report
Arrest Record
Bills of Information
Waiver of Arraignment
Docket - Transcript 02416-94
Criminal Complaint 02416-94
Guilty Plea 02416-94
Revocation of Drivers License
Parole Violation (11/06/95)
Bench Warrant (11/06/95)
Parole Violation (5/13/96)
Bench Warrant (5/13/96)
Arrest Record (11/07/96)
Incarceration Record
Application for Parole
Bail Record (12/03/96)
Probation Record
Spring 1996 - Arson, Commitment, Restraining Order
Plymouth, MA
Incident Report - Attempted Arson(4/26/96) (Plymouth Fire Department)
Involuntary Psychiatric Commitment (4/26/96) - Dr. Felman
Incident Report (5/10/96) (Plymouth Police Department)
Incident Report (5/13/96) (Marshfield Police Department)
Criminal Complaint - 123397 - (5/13/96)
Petition for Abuse Prevention (5/15/96) (Docket# 96-59RO210)
Application for Emergency Restraining Order (Docket# 96-59RO210)
Ex parte Temporary Emergency Restraining Order (5/15/96)
Affidavit (5/15/96)
Affidavit (5/16/96)
Return of Service of TRO (5/16/96) (Docket# 96-59RO210)
Notice of Appearance (5/16/96) (Docket# 96-59RO210)
Motion for Short order of notice (5/16/96) (Docket# 96-59RO210)
Motion to Vacate (5/16/96) (Docket# 96-59RO210)
Hearing (5/20/96) (Docket# 96-59RO210)
Grant of Restraining Order (Docket# 96-59RO210)
Affidavit (5/20/96)
Criminal Complaint - 9654CR4307 - (5/20/96)
Arrest Warrant - Ian Murphy - 9654CR4307 - (5/20/96)
June 1997 - Commitment Proceedings
302 Psychiatric Commitment Proceedings
November 1997 - Felony Theft and Larceny
Upper Darby, PA
Incident Report
December 1997 - Arrest
for Assault and Battery
Upper Darby, PA
Just before Christmas 1997 Ian and his landlord/girlfriend had a serious confrontation. She told him to get out, and he responded by grabbing her (and seriously hurting her).
A little while later things got a lot uglier. Ian "beat himself up, threw himself into the wall several times, and then nose dived down a stairway" he then called the police screaming, begging, and crying that his girlfriend was beating him again.
Incident Report/Affidavit
Bills of Information (Docket# 116-97)
Report of Criminal Judicial Proceedings (Docket# 116-97)
Restraining Order (Assault and Battery, Threats, Continued Harassment
January 1998 -
Upper Darby,
PA
Restraining Order (to retrieve "50,000 dollars worth of computer equipment")
Order of Eviction
Service of Eviction
January 1998 -
Forgery, Making Bomb Threats, Terroristic Threatening
Philadelphia, PA
Police Report
Basically, Ian got all frisky, called someone on the phone and sent them a series of emails that he was going to blow up their home and vehicles with a pipe bomb. The Philadelphia Police went out to visit him a few minutes later, and he confessed to making the calls, but claimed to be mentally ill, etc...
March
1998 - Credit Card Fraud
Philadelphia, PA
Friday evening, on May 1, 1998 Ian Murphy used a stolen credit card to set up a fraudulent ISP account on America Online (his "disposable account"), and a second at netreach.net (a Philadelphia ISP) under an alias of "Floyd Murray."
He then used this ISP account to send a series of threatening, harassing, and obscene messages. When his ISP realized that the account had been set up on a fraudulent credit card they contacted the bank, who shut down the credit card and contacted the owner. When the bank reviewed the other credit cards, their customer had with them they found a pattern of activity suggesting several stolen cards were in use.
The bank finally was able to talk to the owner by the name of Daniel Ingster. Mr. Ingster stated that he was unaware of the use of his cards, and that he had not authorized any of the suspect activity on his accounts. He further advised that he had recently taken in a homeless "close friend" by the name of Ian Murphy, and that Ian was known to him to be a convicted felon with a history of fraud.
The bank then filed a complaint for Credit Card Fraud with both the Philadelphia Police Department, and the United States Secret Service. Daniel Ingster declined to pursue criminal charges against Ian as Ian had promised to pay back the money. On the other hand, after the incident Mr. Ingster tossed Ian out of his house in a matter of hours, and then the next day tossed all of Ian's possession into a truck, drove the truck to Ian's parents house and dumped it in a pile on their lawn (Ian was livid).
The staff at netreach.net (a Philadelphia ISP) was actually told by Ian that "A ring of international cyber-terrorists has been stalking him for over a year, and has been terrorizing victims, hacking computers, and blaming it all on Ian." The ISP stated that Ian s voice actually cracked and was quivering when he was telling the ISP about it. The ISP further stated that they did not believe Ian as their logs of his online behavior prove that he had committed the misdeeds, and provided hard proof that he was lying, committing fraud, and engaging in criminal behavior. When the detailed logs at his ISP were compared to dozens of messages Ian had sent to victims; there was a 100% match and absolute proof of what he was doing. Many of the messages which Ian sent to victims contained threats of murder, threats of arson, and threats of stalking and of a terroristic nature.
These are a few of the user names he used during this time frame:
More Bogus Press Releases
(September 18, 2000 -
Oldsmar, Florida)
Ian would eventually move to Saint Petersburg, FL to live with Xxxx Xxxx, and later to live with his new girlfriend; Pamela Jo Braukman in Oldsmar, Florida. In early Fall 2000 Ian would set up another fraudulent newswire account and on September 18, 2000 he posted a puff piece to pump up his own ego (Ian like to feel important). Ian would later threaten suicide and endlessly whine about his love life on his AOL page about his new girlfriend (see elsewhere on this dossier).
Press Release
"Captain Zap" Announces New Internet Security Initiative
OLDSMAR, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 18, 2000--Ian A. Murphy (a.k.a. ``Captain Zap''), a former professional hacker and founder of IAM/Secure Data Systems, Inc., announces an initiative to educate the general public in Internet security threats and provide products for protection.
Mr. Murphy stated, ``There is no real Internet security or control. The public is grossly out of touch and patently ignorant about Internet security issues that affect them each and everyday. The threat to individual privacy has reached unprecedented levels. Our new initiative is twofold: first; educate the public and second; provide them with the tools to protect their privacy.''
According to Mr. Murphy, educational programs termed Computers And Responsible Ethics (C.A.R.E.), are designed for a number of groups including: schools aged (K-12); large and small businesses; seniors; and adult Internet users. Captain Zap approved security tools, in the form of computer software and hardware, will be sold through a web site that will be announced soon.
Mr. Murphy will draw upon his extensive network security experience in developing and marketing a uniquely sophisticated line of products for the Internet user. Mr. Murphy expanded, ``We believe a limited number of products available today offer only a limited degree of protection from viruses and hackers.
The truth of the matter is that an individual's computer is protected from viruses that have been found, assuming your virus protection software is updated; it does not protect you from future viruses, at least to my present knowledge.
IAM Secure Data Systems, formed in 1982, specializes in computer security analysis, threat detection, countermeasures, and surveillance. IAM Secure Data Systems clients include U.S. Government, Department of Defense, major airlines, banking, telecommunications, and software engineering firms.
Ian Murphy gained national recognition in 1982 when he was convicted of being America's first computer hacker. Mr. Murphy was responsible for tapping into the AT&T mainframe computers and changing the clocks so phone customers would receive the lowest available rates. The movie Sneakers, starring Robert Redford, Dan Aykroyd, and Sidney Poitier is said to be based on the activities of ``Captain Zap.''
Murphy has made multiple appearances on Nightline, 60 minutes, Good Morning America, Eye on America, and CBS This Morning. Murphy is regularly contacted for his unique commentary by such industry journals as Information Week, Computer World, Investor Business Daily, and others. He has been profiled in the Wall Street Journal, Omni, People and other leading magazine and newspapers. His published papers include the bellwether paper on ``Classified ''Tempest`` Eavesdropping Techniques - Who's Listening?'' and the ground breaking electronic surveillance expose ``E.D.I.T.: The RadioShack Reality!''
IAM Secure Data Systems is located in Oldsmar, Florida. The company develops computer and facility security services worldwide. For additional information on IAM Secure Data Systems call 727-772-xxxx.
Contact:
IAM Secure Data Systems, Oldsmar
Thomas Dee, 727/772-xxxx
Note: During this time Ian was actually located at:
Scamming the Tampa Tribune #1
http://www.s2f.com/fistick/zap.html
The Tampa Tribune got scammed by Ian in 1999, right after he moved from Philadelphia, PA to Tampa, FL. He then went on to leverage this initial media coverage into similar puff pieces that also ran in the Tampa Tribune over the next few years.
Murphy now runs a legitimate business, IAM/Secure Data Systems, Inc., which helps corporations guard against hackers.
Michelle Delio and Wired gets scammed... again
http://wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,41630,00.html
The Greatest Hacks of All Time
by Michelle Delio
02:00
AM Feb. 06, 2001 PT
Captain Zap: Ian Murphy, known to his friends as Captain Zap, was the first cracker to be tried and convicted as a felon.
[Ian Murphy (AKA: Captain Zap) is nothing more then an unemployed psychiatric patient with no technical skills, and no credentials. Mr. Murphy has a really long history of being delusion, and of pulling similar hoaxes dating back over 20 years.]
[He has been banned from every Major Internet service provider in Philadelphia due to fraud. AT&T, GTE, and MCI all have extensive fraud files on him (he runs up a big bill and then "skips"). Mr. Murphy is nothing more than a middle aged petty thief and con artist who has spent the majority of his adult life either in prison or on probation.]
[Ian has always been considered a major embarrassment to his family members, his parents have effectively disowned him. They're Philly blue blood with the money coming to them via the grandfathers estate (Murphy Steamship Lines). When Ian get really hard up (every few years) his parents let him move in with him, but more recently they have forced him to live on the street (after he violently attacked his 80 year old mother).]
[Ian is a Public Relations monster (his ex-wife worked at a PR firm in Philly). He knows how to twist the media, and how to lie to reporters. He seeks the limelight and craves the attention of others, he loves to talk to reporters, police, secret service agents, etc... It doesn't matter to him who he is talking to so long as they "bow down and worship him" as some type of deity of security expert.]
[Mr. Murphy is a career criminal, thief, and con artist.... and Wired magazine would appear to be one of his latest victims.]
[snip]
The 1987 Wall Street Journal Hoax
11/03/1987
The Wall Street Journal
PHILADELPHIA -- It is almost 2 a.m., and the room is dark but for the phosphorous glow of the computer screen that illuminates the cherubic face of Capt. Zap. He taps the keyboard in his lap and searches for "hackers" who break into computer systems for fun or malice.
"We got one," Capt. Zap says. He starts an on-screen dialogue with the hacker and asks for phone numbers to corporate data bases that might be fun to hack into. The hacker advises that the best place to look tonight is the "Holiday Inn," a secret electronic bulletin board that lists such numbers. The captain heads thataway.
He watches the boards for clients and warns when a system is under attack. For a fee of $800 a day and up, his firm, IAM/Secure Data Systems Inc., will test the security of a data base by trying to break in, investigate how the security was breached, eavesdrop on anyone you want, and do anything else that strikes his fancy as nerd vs. spy.
Other experts say any figures are bogus because most thefts of data, software and such things as credit-card information aren't reported. Companies don't like admitting they were outfoxed by techies barely old enough to vote.
Lots of hackers have been busy lately. Agents recently busted "Shadow Hawk," 17-year-old Herbert Zinn of Chicago. He hacked into American Telephone & Telegraph Co. systems and allegedly heisted software worth $1 million by "downloading" it to a home computer.
This summer, hackers in West Germany tapped into the U.S. space agency's European computer network, peeking at files on booster rockets and shuttle contracts. One of them changed a variable in a scientist's equation from pi (3.14159265) to 7, ruining two months of research.
Capt. Zap views this underworld from a frighteningly cluttered apartment on the city's ragged north side. Short and pudgy, he hovers at the screen surrounded by an electronic arsenal: closed-circuit video, printer, police radio, TV, eavesdropping gear, auto-dialer, shortwave radio, oscilloscopes and other gizmos.
Some clients get queasy over his methods. Mr. Murphy had a row with Peat Marwick when one official balked at his criminal record and how he tiger-teamed the insurance office. Mr. Murphy says the accounting firm at first wouldn't pay him $24,000 he was owed, but it relented. Gary G. Goehringer, a Peat Marwick manager, confirms he hired Mr. Murphy for two jobs and stresses he was under close supervision at all times.
Capt. Zap can barely wait.
Ian Gets Bitch-Slapped at the "Computer
Technology Showcase" in Tampa, Florida
On Thursday, October 18, 2001 there was a huge ugly fiasco when Ian Murphy got flat out busted in the middle of a presentation on security at a computer security conference in the Tampa, Florida. It seems that the "Computer Technology Showcase" had a show in Tampa on the 17th and 18th (http://www.techshows.com/tampa/tampa.html ), and that several of the seminars at the show was given by "Tech Street Training Solutions" (http://www.techstreettraining.com/ ), who in turn presented Ian Murphy (AKA: Captain Zap) as their computer security guru.
Ian went on a rant about how special he was, about how he could bring down the entire national infrastructure, bragging about his elite skills, etc, etc, etc... He then continued to give a PowerPoint presentation laced with porn and nudity, Most of his presentation was material concerning RIAA posted on SlashDot three days prior.
He kept talking about security without actually discussing techniques and relied almost exclusively on nebulous phrases and non-specific methods. Ian kept picking on people in the session berating them for being stupid, and kept slamming "the stupid women" in the room.
During the presentation one of the attendees had quite enough and publicly called Ian out on some specific technical issues, challenged his "hacker" claims, exposed him as nothing more than a con-artist, and completely humiliate him. Ian responded by going into a screaming rant. As a result, the conference organizers and his sponsor had to evict him from the conference (after they interrupted his presentation and screaming midway though).
It is a perfect example of what happens when a consulting firm brings in a con artist, and their expert is publicly exposed as a fraud. "Tech Street Training Solutions" was in major damage control mode, and was devastated when they found out they had been victims of a con (which serves them right).
After Ian was tossed out of the show, he started to harass and terrorize the people who had exposed him. He kept calling various people in the company, launching into one of his trademark screaming fit, then when he ran out of breath and starts sputter; he hangs up, regains his composer, calls back, launches, and the cycle repeats itself. This is the same cycle that he has practiced dozens of times on numerous other victims.
Two of Ian's associates; Xxxx O'Hearn and Linda Becnel were following him around at the conference and ran to his defense. At least one of them flipped out when they heard about Ian getting thrown out of the conference, and contacted the show organizers throwing a fit, attempting to negotiate some way for him to get back in.
Ian then started a fax and phone barrage of his typical "legions of fine lawyers" comedy act against the show organizers, and the person who called him out during the show, and his employer. Ian called, Ian yelled, Ian screamed, Ian sent a barrage of e-mails, then a barrage of fax... and yet everybody laughed at him... and then Ian cried.
Physical Profile of Ian A. Murphy
Ian A. Murphy is about 5' 3" - 5' 4", a lot shorter than average, and is about 190-210 (short and really fat). No muscle whatsoever, a complete "flabmeister". He has recently grown a beard in an attempt to modify his physical appearance. He can appear "angelic, cherubic, cute and appealing", that is what often fools the victims he cons.
Hair is longish, and is very light brown/dirty blonde, but he likes to "go full blonde" when he gets into trouble, Normally worn in a short pony tail. he has a serious problem with soap or shampoo, and commonly has dirty greasy hair and reaks of body odor as a result. Occasionally subject wears reading glasses, but only because they make him look "sophisticated and important". Subject does NOT look his age of 46 (DOB: 01/25/57).
Ian has a history of cocaine and other drug usage, his pupils are often totally dilated, even in full sunlight. He currently using anti psychotic drugs, and antidepressants, and tells people that these are is his heart medication. He claims to have had 4-5 heart attacks (which is a falsehood); in each case he was committed to a psychiatric institution for cocaine induced psychosis, attempting suicide, depression, being "delusional", etc... Several of his associates have witnessed him purchasing, selling, and consuming large amounts of cocaine (and other drugs), and has been admitted to the hospital several times for overdose problems.
Subject has a very high potential for suicide, and has a history of self inflicted injury (he then claims that someone beat him up, and then tries to have them arrested). Subject like to burn himself with scalding liquids, and/or "throw himself" to cause injuries (he usually jumps out a window, "flies" down a flight of stairs, or rams his head into a wall).
Subject also has a long history of being involuntary committed to psychiatric institutions, and mental health facilities. His cognitive functions have radically deteriorated since 1993, and he appears to be rapidly "self destructing".
Ian has a severe thyroid dysfunction, and liver disease as a result of long term drug and alcohol abuse. Due to these health problems he has great difficulty regulating body temperature and often wears three and four layers of clothing (even in hot weather). Drinks and smokes heavily (heavily addicted), teeth are badly stained with tar. Multiple drunk driving convictions, and drug and alcohol related incidents.
Subject illegally owns (or has owned) a small caliber handgun, but has very poor gun handling skills. He carries his handgun front right hand pocket (nothing in the chamber), but will often conceal it in a hand carried portfolio, or bank bag. Subject does not currently own or wear body armor. He is known to carry "Butterfly" or Bali-Song style of knives, and has a serious fetish with edged weapons and fire.
Subject also has a history of wearing a shoulder holster (with a fake gun or paint ball gun in it) under a jacket to flash during an interview or to "impress the ladies". He also likes to carry and flash "plastic" guns in the holster, and has shown off a fake police badge. He knows virtually nothing about combat, martial arts, military operations, and/or self defense. His weapon of choice is either a club, roll of change, or "soap-in-a-sock" (prison yard weapons). He has also assaulted victims with a small canvas pouch of change which he keeps in his pocket.
He enjoys wearing expensive looking jewelry; but it's actually cheap costume jewelry, a fake Rolex, and a fake diamond stud in his ear. He also likes to wear lots of bracelets on his wrists.
Subject typically "launders" funds received from victims by assigning the checks (or other instruments) over to third parties. Subject normally does not have or use bank accounts (and has been banned by most banks from opening an account due to fraud). His associates often deposit the checks written to him into their accounts, and give then him cash.
The subject like to "move in" to a victims house (usually someone who feels sorry for him). He then runs up huge phone bills (hundreds of dollars a month), and refuses to pay any rent. He will refuse to get a job, and the few dollars he gets from his scams he spends on CD's, computer games, drugs, alcohol, prostitutes, etc...
He will often steal mail, credit cards, and valuables from his victims. He also has a long history of fraudulently transferring utilities into his name (to make it more difficult to evict him). If the victim is female then he will start telling people that they are married, or are boyfriend/girlfriend. He likes to target women who live alone (easy to con), who have control of a piece of property (free rent), and are employed (free expenses).
Since he has no income, and can't find any type of work (according to court documents) it's important that he gets free (or almost free) rent and utilities. When his victims realize that he has simply conning them for free rent, he will refuse to leave. If his landlord try to evict him he appears in court with copies of the utility bills in his name. He like to scream, yell, and beg the judge not to evict him and will fabricate all kinds of stories why he shouldn't be evicted.
One of his more common tricks is to get the landlord/girlfriends utility bills transferred into HIS name. This way when he gets hauled into court for eviction he will try to claim that they are engaged in a common law marriage, and that he cannot be evicted from his own home. He also has a history of stealing his landlords/girlfriends mail.
On an added note, Ian has a particular penchant for conning the wifes and families of deployed military personnel. The veteran returns from the deployment to find out his wife is divorcing him, Ian is banging his wife, and all of his savings are drained. The poor GI (usually a Marine or Navy Seamen) gets his life destroyed because Ian is still mad that he got tossed out of boot camp. This is one of the reasons he is currently in the Tampa, Florida area... lots of lonely military wives with husbands on deployment.
Subject has been using the following false address:
The Gladwyne address is that of his elderly parents house. The subject has been banned from the address, except for brief occasional visitations during holidays (when his older siblings are also there).
When mail is sent to this address (under the subjects name) it is returned as undeliverable. His parents have stated that when they receive mail addressed to the subject they either return it, or throw it into the trash.
Any usage of the Gladwyne address by the subject should be considered fraudulent.
That said it should be pointed out that Ian is sometimes homeless and ends up moving back into his parents house until he can find someone else to live with. For example a few years back Ian got evicted from the place he was staying and had to move back in to his parent house. During this time he posted a "Looking for a Job" on an agricultural website in Canada. Note the address he was using.
Welcome to Looking for a Farm Job
Mixed
Hello,
I am a 40 yr old male looking to find employment and education in farming. Now some will say that I must be nuts to want to get into this, but I am looking to learn as I earn. If you have any information please contact 215-739-4315
Thank You
Our actual offer:
Contact informations
Farm or Company name:
Name: Ian Murphy
Mailing address: 1258 Country
Club Rd
Gladwyne, PA 19035
USA
Phone: 215-739-2357
Fax:
Email: ravenceo@snip.net or
ravenceo@worldnet.att.net
Farm-Online Main Menu
Classified
Last updated on: Feb 1, 1998
Subjects recent physical addresses are:
(610) 642-2478
(Ian's Primary Number)
(610) 642-3005 (Ian's Computer/Fax Number)
This traces to an address and phone number registered to:
K.C. Baldadian
Uniglobe Wings Travel
Kaleidescape Travel Service
330 Fairhill Road
Wynnewood, PA
19096
(610) 642-6002 (Primary Business Number)
(610) 642-4731 (Fax Number)
(610) 642-2478
(610) 642-3005
Note: Casey (or K.C.) appear to be the subjects "girlfriend-of-the-moment" and is obviously not aware of his extensive criminal background, heavy drug/alcohol usage, history of fraud, and history of violence.
It has been confirmed that Ian was living with K.C. Baldadian at the above address just prior to moving to Florida, and claimed to be employed by Uniglobe Wings Travel. It's also confirmed that Ian was actively dating Ms. Baldadian for quite some time to "moving-in-with her".
When he was moving from his previous address he kept telling his ex-landlord (who he later stalked and harassed) that he was going to be doing "computer work" for a "big travel agency". This would tend to confirm that he planned to work for Uniglobe Wings Travel.
The post office confirmed that Ian was receiving mail at the 330 Fairhill Road address, and that he is using both his real name, a number of aliases, and a large number of company names (often to set up fraudulent Internet accounts). It's curious that the subject had access to the SABRE computer system, customer credits cards, and related materials as he has a long history of computer and credit card fraud.
When Ian left Pennsylvania and moved down to Florida, he lived at, and/or used the following addresses:
Ian A. Murphy
5400 Park Street North, Unit #403
St. Petersburg, FL 33709
300 Capri
Blvd 14
Saint Petersburg, FL 33706
Xxxx Xxxx
Winn Schwartau
InfoWar
InfoSecurity
11511 Pine
Street
Seminole, FL 34642
813-360-6256
813-392-4821
Xxxx Xxxx
3120 Knox Mcrae Drive
Titusville,
FL 32780-4551
407-269-0568
Winn Schwartau
1511 Pine Street
Seminole, FL 34642
813-393-6361
280 126th
East Ave
Saint Petersburg, FL 33708
813-393-6361
Pamela Jo Braukman
22 Deerpath Ct
Oldsmar FL 34677
(727) 787-9041
Ian Murphy and Xxxx Xxxx of Interpact (aka: InfoWar), have had an "intimate" history together which has been witnessed by a number of people. She is a romantic sycophant who has help him several times when he got arrested or got into other trouble; such as his landlord evicting him, bailing him out of jail, getting arrested, and playing interference for him. Psychologists, social workers, and security professionals refer to relationships such as this as being "Co-Dependant" and/or Enabling, which is usually highly destructive. Additionally, Xxxx has allowed Ian Murphy to use her computer for mischief on more than one occasion. As Xxxx claims to run Winn's business; Winn would then in turn be allowing Ian Murphy to use his computers (through Xxxx). Ian gets away with a great deal of mischief as he has Xxxx to run interference for him when he gets into trouble. Some of the mischief that Ian performmed while using Xxxx's computer including making bomb threats, murder threats, arson threats and related stuff againt this author.
The Winn/Xxxx business called InfoWar, Info-Sec, The Security Experts, Interpact, and others are actually run out of the apartment of Xxxx Xxxx, and Winn's house. The organization does not list any business address, and the phone numbers all trace to residential addresses and apartments.
In case there was any doubt that Ian Murphy had a strong tie to Winn, take a look at the following which explains what Ian did with the few dollars he got when is father died in 2002.
REAL ESTATE TRANSACTIONS Series: REAL ESTATE
TRANSACTIONS
St. Petersburg Times; St. Petersburg, Fla.; Dec 4, 2002;
[snip]
5400 Park St. N #403, to Ian A. Murphy by Winn William Lowson Schwartau, $137,000, 10/04/2002.
[snip]
The full address is:
Ian A. Murphy
Otter Key Condominiums
5400 Park Street North, Unit #403
St. Petersburg, FL 33709
Xxxx has claimed that she is
helping Ian with his inheritance, and that she made promises to Ian's father while he was on his death bed. On a related
topic, several years ago Winn conspired with Ian Murphy and Frank Jones (both convivted felons) to initiate a harassment, and
"dirty tricks" campaign against this author. Winn then reached out to several other people he knew, and tried to get them to
help him in his harassment campaign... several of whom contacted the author to let him know what Winn was up to.
...talk about really, really interesting connections and relationships. You can tell a lot about a person by looking at the company they keep, and by those whom they choose associate themselves with.
Ian's recent parole officer is:
Her E-mail address is: karmstro@montcopa.org
The Chief Adult Probation Officer is Michael F. Hamel, and his E-Mail
address is: mhamel@montcopa.org (he is Karen Armstrong's supervisor).
Ian A. Murphy and the Enforcers/PRNewswire Hoax (1998)
In the Spring of 1998 Ian Murphy set up a bogus account with the Philadelphia office of the PRNewswire (and still has not paid for the account).A short time later Ian started posting "Press Releases" via his new account and started harassing members of the media to interview him (instead they laughed at him).
Ian has a history of issuing similar press releases, which are obviously excessively complementary, highly unprofessional, and full of "blarney" (to put it politely). He usually starts this type of garbage after he runs out of money from his last "enterprise".
Ian A. Murphy, Pres. and CEIO of IAM/Secure Data Systems, Inc., todayissued a warning to the nation stating that this is just the first waveof the Digital Warfare that has been demonstrated by the youngest andbrightest of our Information Age
GLADWYNE, Pa., March 4 -- Ian A. Murphy, Pres. of IAM/Secure DataSystems, Inc. today stated the current wave of computer hacker attackshas shown just how vulnerable the nation's Information & ElectronicInfrastructure has become. The nation's computers systems and networksare not ready to withstand any assault or attack, let alone simplepenetrations undertaken by youthful interlopers at this time.
"The current wave of Information Systems 'Open Warfare' has shown thatthe Federal, State and Local governments, along with multiple agenciesof Federal and State Law Enforcement are not prepared or fully versed inInformation Security and Privacy. The Security and Privacy needs ofindustry, banking, hospitals and insurance which touch each and everyperson's lives is in jeopardy.
"This day in Information Warfare will stand as a maker of history of thelack of security being exercised by those who collect and sell our'Informational' lives as so much chattel in the marketplace. How muchlonger we will as citizens stand for the complete disrespect of ourlives being traded as if baseball cards in the school yard for all tosee? Are we to allow our private credit, medical, employment, criminal,drivers or other personal data to be examined by those who are notauthorized or legally entitled to such information without our expressedpermission? Do we stand for this type of invasion of our lives?"
Ian A. Murphy is considered one of the nation's leading experts onInformation Warfare, Security and Privacy today. Known as Capt. Zap, heoffers unique, colorful and insightful views of today's InformationSociety in a clear, concise manner for everyone. Please contact IAM/SDSfor more information: 215-739-xxxx or xxxx now.
SOURCE IAM/Secure Data Systems, Inc.
CONTACT: Ian A. Murphy, Pres. & CEIO of IAM-Secure Data Systems,
215-739-xxxx or
215-739-xxxx, or ravensceo@mcione.com
Several weeks later (after nobody would take him seriously) his "Press Releases" took on a more threatening and prophetic tone.
He claims that a hacker group had been issuing threats, and had been engaging in cyber-terrorism. The interesting thing is that there are no records of these alleged attacks.
However, Mr. Murphy has a long history of violence and making harassing and terroristic threats (including bomb and murder threats). We have copies of a number of restraining orders which his victims have been forced to obtain against him.
Several members of "The Enforcers" were quite amused by Ian's claims as they were only uploading HTML pages to open FTP directories (a very old, and very harmless prank).
The Enforcers were never on any "offensive", nor was there any "cyber-terroristic attacks" (except by Ian Murphy).
The "Full-Fledged Assault on the Internet by International Cyber-Terrorists" was a pure fantasy and utter fabrication by Ian Murphy in an flagrant attempt to gain attention (and to convince some gullible fool to hire him as a security expert or to give him an interview).
IAM/Secure Data Systems, Inc.: Computer Hackers on the Offensive Afterthe Hacker Analyzer is Arrested in IsraelMultiple Government and Corporate Web Sites Under Massive RetaliatoryCyber-Attack; International Cyber-Terrorism Raising Its Specter in ThisFull-Fledged Assault Upon the InternetGLADWYNE, Pa., March 24 -- Ian A. Murphy, Pres. of IAM/Secure DataSystems, Inc., today issued a terse warning to the Systems ownersconnected to the Internet:After the recent arrest of the "Pentagon Hackers" in the US and Israel,certain cyber-terroristic factions of the computer underground havetaken an active offensive role in the defense of the arrested hackers. The Underground Hacker group known as the Enforcers have undertaken amassive assault upon the Internet and Information Systems worldwide.Corporate and Govt. web sites have been attacked and defaced in such amanner, that no system should be left without full security proceduresand policies firmly in place. Internet sites that have been attackedcan be found on a listing at the web site http://www.antionline.com. This current example of cyber- terrorism will continue to excalate inthe near future and is showing just how vulnerable we all are to thesetypes of Cyber-Terroristic attacks.These Cyber-Terrorists, only armed with average desk-top computers andconnections to the Internet, have shown that any system connected to theInternet may fall prey to these intrusions. Call it the Cyber-version ofa home intrusion and you get a better idea.These attacks offer a unique view of the power of the Internet to reachout and touch all lives in many manners yet unseen by the generalpopulation. In addition, such blatant attacks only serve to underscorethe complete lack of overall Information Security provided to thesesystems that contain all of our Personal, Business, Medical, Insurance,Criminal & Educational Information.Without the complete and total assurance of such systems, we can neverbe safe from such assaults upon our lives, our incomes and our NationalSecurity. This glowing example should be a warning to all that use anddepend upon the Internet for Commerce, Research and Entertainment.IAM/Secure Data Systems, Inc. is the nation's leading InformationSystems Security consulting firm. With clients ranging from Govt.,Military and Industry, IAM/SDS leads the way to a secure Internetpresence. Contact IAM/SDS today to learn more!SOURCE IAM/Secure Data Systems, Inc.CONTACT: Ian A. Murphy, President & CEO of IAM/Secure Data Systems,215-739-xxxx, or 215-739-xxxx, or e-mail, ravensceo@mcione.comWeb Site: http://www.antionline.com
On March 22, 1998 a very drunk Ian called a member of "The Enforcers" and barraged him with a series of terroristic threats for over 90 minutes. The individual who Ian harassed was not a spokes-person, negotiator, or leader of the group.
Mr. Murphy's comments that people should "...bow to the wonderment of the hackers and their alleged silent, awesome power" is a interesting insight into the way his mind actually works. HIs mental defects makes him hunger for people to "bow to the wonderment of Ian Murphy and his awesome power".
Notice that he made contact with the "Cyber-terrorists" on March 22, but issued "prophetic warnings" and negotiation notices on March 24, and 26 (a rather interesting coincidence).
'Capt. Zap' Ian A. Murphy Stands as Chief Negotiator in Talks to EndUnauthorized Actions Against Internet Web Sites and Corporate SystemsEnforcers Computer Hackers Spokesperson States That Peace Terms Will BeAbided By and Calls for Computer Hacker Community to End Current AttacksGLADWYNE, Pa., March 26 -- The following announcement was released todayby IAM/Secure Data Systems, Inc.:Ian A. Murphy (a.k.a. Capt. Zap, the nation's first arrested computerhacker), President of IAM/Secure Data Systems, Inc., today stated that,after successful negotiations between Mr. Murphy and the hackercommunity, peace communications with members of the Enforcers computerhacker group have ended and the Enforcers will issue a cease and desistorder of all offensive hostile actions on the Internet.Mr. Murphy issued a statement today stating that all hostilities willcease at 00:00 GMT, March 26, 1998. Negotiations were finalized afterhours of long discussion with the leader of the Enforcers."It is our understanding that all activities of a hostile nature willcease and all attacks will come to an end as of the time issued in thisdecree. Cyber-peace is attained and will be maintained for theimmediate future. It is up to all of the parties to maintain thisnegotiated peace treaty of cyber-warfare. This is the first cyber-peace treaty to be enacted in our modern times, and stands as a model ofthe 'Silicon Times' to ponder within."In a statement issued by Mr. Murphy, "It is high time that the allegedpowers that be in Information Security bow to the wonderment of thehackers and their alleged silent, awesome power. It is time that we asa society realize that one individual is equal to an entire armednuclear offensive force and is able to bring about global chaos if theychoose to, from a simple computer keyboard. It strikes me as being sosimplistic and yet so invasive of all society that such things mayoccur. And we have become so dependent and enamored with -- and oursociety so rests upon -- our silicon lives and slaves. We have becomethe servants of our own information society and still do not see thereality of the situation at hand."SOURCE IAM/Secure Data Systems, Inc.CONTACT: Ian A. Murphy, President & CEIO of IAM-Secure Data Systems,215-739-xxxx, or 215-739-xxxx, or ravensceo@mcione.com
Mr. Murphy issued another bogus Press Release concerning "The Enforcers" via his fraudulent PRNewswire account.
It's obvious that the following "News Release" by Mr. Murphy is pure and utter fantasy, and that its only purpose is to make Ian Murphy look important (he likes to, and has to feel important).
Enforcers Computer Hackers Spokesperson Defends Assertive Actions,Claims of Helping Systems Administrators 'Fix' Systems FlawsGLADWYNE, Pa., March 26 -- The following was announced today byIAM/Secure Data Systems, Inc.:Ian A. Murphy (a.k.a. "Capt. Zap," the nation's first arrested computerhacker), Pres. of IAM/Secure Data Systems, Inc., today stated that thecommunication issued by an alleged member of the Enforcers (from acontact identified as Adam at adamb1@flash.net, web page:http://come.to/paralyse ), sent a defense today of the actions of thesecyber-terroristic attacks.In a statement issued by Mr. Murphy, "Their spokesperson's defense oftheir actions against systems as valid reason for their unauthorizedexcursions was clearly a way to diminish their alleged damage to systemsworldwide. This is clearly a way to legitimize their hacking asjustified. The destruction of Information Systems for an alleged causeis not the way to go about such things in defense of Hackers orCrackers."In addition to the statement, Mr. Murphy stated that the recent arrestof the "Pentagon Hackers" in the U.S. and Israel, certaincyber-terroristic factions of the computer underground have taken acontinued active offensive role in the defense of the arrested hackers. The underground hacker group known as the Enforcers have undertaken amassive assault upon the Internet and Information systems worldwide. Internet sites that have been attacked can be found on a listing at theweb site http://www.antionline.com. This current example ofcyber-terrorism will continue to escalate in the near future and isshowing just how vulnerable we all are to such cyber-terrorism. Theseattacks offer a unique view of the power of the Internet to reach outand touch all lives in many manners, yet unseen by the generalpopulation.In addition, such blatant attacks only serve to underscore the completelack of overall Information Security provided to these systems thatcontain our personal, business, medical, insurance, criminal, andeducational information. Without the complete and total assurance ofsuch systems, we can never be safe from such assaults upon our lives,our incomes, and national security.IAM/Secure Data Systems, Inc. is the nation's leading Information &Internet Systems Security consulting firm. With clients ranging fromthe Federal Government, military, and industry, IAM/SDS leads the way toa firmly secure Internet presence. Contact IAM/SDS today to learn more.SOURCE IAM/Secure Data Systems, Inc.CONTACT: Ian A. Murphy, President & CEO of IAM-Secure Data Systems,215-739-xxxx or 215-739-xxxx, or ravensceo@mcione.com
The following "Press Release" was posted to the PRNEWSWIRE via Ian's bogus account in Philadelphia. (Obviously Mr. Murphy was the actual author).
When "The Enforcers" were contacted to confirm "The Statement" they indicated that it was a complete fabrication, and that they had no idea what Mr. Murphy was talking about.
The Enforcers then provided a statement which pretty much sums up what happened and their feelings about Mr. Murphy and his falsehoods:
The Enforcers indicated that the statement found in the Interpact Press Release was a pure and utter fantasy which they knew nothing about. An interesting detail is the identical wording between "The Threats" listed in the InfoWar release and Ian's previous "prophetic" warnings.
Whatever legitimacy Winn Schwartau, InfoWar, Info-Sec, The Security Experts, and Interpact had before this release was destroyed when this "Press Release" carried by them appeared on the wire service. It's sad that Xxxx and Winn are not very discriminating about their associates as both of them claim that Ian is a close friend who had known him for quite some time.
The Enforcers Hackers Group -- Enters Into Cyberspace AgreementSEMINOLE, Fla., March 27 -- Infowar.Com was notified today by the"Enforcers" Computer Hackers Group, that an agreement was reached withchief negotiator Ian A. Murphy, aka Capt. Zap, to cease and desist theircyber destruction witnessed in the recent attacks and intrusions thathave rocked the Internet in past weeks.The Enforcers began their massive assault on corporate and militarywebsites after the arrest of "Pentagon Hackers" here in the US andIsrael.Ian Murphy, CEO of IAM/Secure Data Systems, and the first US hackerarrested back in 1981, issued press releases during negotiations whichare captioned below. Murphy began the process to begin deliberationsout of a sense of duty. Murphy's dialogue with members of the Enforcergroup pointed to the fact that the destruction was counter productive. He urged the group to consider halting this activity. "The destructionof information systems for an alleged cause is not the way to go aboutsuch things in defense of Hackers and Crackers."Murphy has been pontificating for years that the government andcorporate entities need to take the powers and strength of hackersseriously. With the attacks and intrusions on the rise, and informationlosses at an all time high, Murphy added, "It is high time that thealleged powers that be in information security bow to the wonderment ofthe hackers and their alleged silent, awesome power. It is time that weas a society realize that one individual is equal to an entire armednuclear offensive force and is able to bring about global chaos if theychoose to, from a simple computer keyboard. It strikes me as being sosimplistic and yet so invasive of all society that such things mayoccur. And we have become so dependent and enamored with -- and oursociety so rests upon -- our silicon lives and slaves. We have becomethe servants of our own information society and still do not see thereality of the situation at hand."The Enforcers defended their activities with claims that they werecalling attention to system administrators to wake up and 'fix' theirsystem flaws.Statement Of The Enforcers
...and there were even more Press Releases later that week
P.A.V.I.B. Headquarters, MarylandSource: ReutersDate: 27 Mar 1998Press ReleaseP.A.V.I.B. today issued a terse warning to Ian A. Murphy (Captain Zap),his numerous fake corporations, and to his customers.This is the first wave of vengeance, and information warfare by thebrightest modern technological shadow warriors of the Information Age!CYBERSPACE, EARTH (Reuter), 03/27/98 -- Today a group of informationwarriors, security experts, military special operations personnel, andintelligence agents called "P.A.V.I.B." have vowed a wave of "OpenInformation Warfare" against Ian A. Murphy, President of IAM/Secure DataSystems, Inc. (AKA: "Captain Zap").During the week of March 23, 1998, Mr. Murphy issued a series of falseand misleading statements. Many of these lies were posted to the variousnewswires and news databases via a series of accounts which had beenobtained by Mr. Murphy through fraud.Government documents have now come into the possession of P.A.V.I.B.which reveals that Mr. Murphy is nothing more that a Petty Thief, GrossLiar, Con Artist, Public Drunkard, Forger, Shoplifter, Fence, and WomanBeater. Ian A. Murphy is currently on probation for some of his morerecent criminal activities (which were not computer related). He hasspent over half of his adult life either institutionalized, in prison,or on probation.These documents reveal that Mr. Murphy was arrested in 1981, not forhacking computers or phone phreaking, but for petty theft. (Mr. Murphywas having children steal computer equipment, he would then removethe serial numbers and then sell the equipment or give it away to hisfriends).Mr. Murphy has never been arrested for any type of hacking crime, or forany offense related to technology (other then stealing equipment). Hehas lied hundreds of times in order to betray others, and has earned themoniker of "The Judas Hacker" by several of his clients. He has beendeemed "a crank" by numerous law enforcement agencies who are familiarwith his rantings.Since 1986, Mr. Murphy has been grossly lying about his background, andcredentials. His corporate customers have been lulled into a false senseof security by following his advice. Their computers, databases,networks and systems are not ready to withstand any assault or attack,let alone simple penetrations undertaken by youthful interlopers at thistime.This day in Information Warfare will stand as a marker in history of thelack of security being exercised by those gullible corporations whoneglected to verify Mr. Murphy's background and credentials. He does notpossess any type of formal computer training, and is incapable ofperforming even the most basic of technical tasks.Ian A. Murphy has created a series of bogus companies, bogus references,and completely fabricated credentials. His "fine family of companies"have been found to be fraudulent. His claims to have been a Navy Seal,CIA operative, FBI agent, and Secret Service contractor have beenverified to be totally false (he was thrown out of the Navy after onlytwo weeks).P.A.V.I.B. has deemed Mr. Murphy, and his "fine family of companies", acomplete and utter fraud. He has a considerable criminal history, andshould be considered a "Grave Security Risk" both to the public and tohis customers. Mr. Murphy has been banned from almost every Internetservice in Philadelphia, and all major Internet Service Providers nationwide.P.A.V.I.B. is an international network of professional computer andtelecommunication security experts who have been commissioned "Walk aBeat in Cyberspace". Their function is that of the Silent Warrior whoquietly work in the dark shadows to protect the public againstElectronic Terrorism and Fraud such as that practiced by Ian A. Murphy.Mr. Ian A. Murphy is an unemployed taxi driver who has never engaged inany type of legitimate business. He is currently under investigation fornumerous felonies, and is suspected of multiple unauthorized intrusionsinto various computer systems. He currently resides in a third storyapartment located in a very poor ghetto section of Philadelphia, PA.Head Spook, P.A.V.I.B./// -- END -- ///
U4EA Attack on BerkshireNet and Boston Herald (1996 Hoax)
In 1995 Ian A. Murphy jumped criminal parole and probation in Pennsylvania, was evicted from his apartment and then spent sometime at the Psychiatric ward of the Ravenswood Hospital, and then moved to the Boston area.
Subject then moved in with friends in Brant Rock/Marshfield, MA (and was promptly thrown out after a short time. Subject ran up $900 in long distance charges to Chicago and Canada and then refused to pay the bill. He then moved into a small basement apartment in Plymouth, MA which he then tried to burn down.
While living in Brant Rock the subject set up another bogus corporation and named it Ravens Wood, Inc. (after the Ravenswood Psychiatric Hospital where he had just spent some time).
In February 1996 subject started wearing T-Shirts with the phrase U4EA on it, and started showing people materials where he called himself both Captain Zap, and U4EA. Subject also collected and displayed posters and other paraphernalia regarding the rock group known as "U4EA".
Several people (including his landlord) all indicated that Ian had no visible means of income, and that all of his possessions could fit in the back of a station wagon. They indicated that all Ian did all day and all night was play on his computer and dabble in the occult.
Ian also tried to dabble in the South Shore hacker and phone phreaker community (mostly around New Bedford, MA) without very much success. His only "audience" were a few juveniles who wouldn't take him seriously (they believed that Ian was "trying to set them up").
He also applied for employment to several Boston area companies (none of which took him seriously and promptly tossed him out). Several of these firms were security companies who recognized him as a fraud within minutes.. In some cases he actually stalked employers, and showed up at their homes and offices demanding interviews. We have copies of the resume and credentials he was circulating (in which he claims to have been a SEAL, CIA Agent, etc).
Ian has a long history of sending email with spoofed headers in an attempt to harass victims. He also has a very long history of mischief and related activities on several IRC channels. He also has a history of being a Media Whore as the press make him feel important.
For several months BerkshireNet (a small New England ISP) had been having serious problems with someone spoofing email headers and causing them a great deal of aggravation. When the ISP shutdown the "exploit" which was being used to allow the abuse of the mail server the culprit came forward and identified himself as "U4EA". "U4EA" then baited the system administrator into talking to him on an anonymous IRC channel, where he tried to terrorize him for several hours. In an attempt to scare the ISP "U4EA" modified the kernel on one of the machine via an open FTP port (BerkshireNet had virtually no security).
Several days later Ian started calling various newspapers and television stations in the Boston area and insisting that they talk to him about the security problems at BerkshireNet. The only reporter who would talk to him was Mark Mueller at the Boston Herald. (and Mark was more then amused by Ian's childish behavior).
The Boston Herald sent a photographer out to take a few pictures of Ian, and ran a short story about the BerkshireNet problems (but didn't mention Ian). Ian pushed and screamed that he wanted to be mentioned in the article and wanted his picture to be taken at the BerkshireNet facility (but they refused).
What was really curious is that nobody at BerkshireNet had the slightest idea of who Ian Murphy was, but they were interested as to why he knew so much about their security problem (which had not yet been made public).
There is a very strong correlation between Ian moving to Boston, and the problems starting at BerkshireNet.
Boston Herald (3/1/96)Page 3Elusive Superhacker Shuts Down Mass. ComputersPITTSFIELD - A superhacker with a sociopathic streak and a worldwidereach temporarily shut down computers of a small western MassachusettsInternet provider and sent off white supremacist messages in its name.Officials of BerkshireNet said the electronic break-in climaxed athree-month escalating duel of hacking and security countermeasures."He's got a God complex, and he thinks he's invincible," said JasonHatch, administrator for BerkshireNet.The same hacker has penetrated a number of Internet sites of governmentagencies, universities and companies from coast to coast, according tocomputer system administrators.The FBI is now on the case of the mysterious hacker. But the hunt isdifficult because he has covered his electronic tracks well.When BerkshireNet tried to stop him, the hacker turned increasinglynasty, bragging of invulnerability and making personal threats.Hatch said the hacker once told him: "I am a dark-side hacker; I have nocode".In his latest foray at BerkshireNet, the hacker sneaked into the systemTuesday and erased two of the three computers, shutting down theoperation. he also planted swastikas and white racist texts on thecompany's subscriber log-on and the e-mail of its system administrator."We are trying to rid the Net of Zionist presence," he wrote, usingHatch's name and e-mail address. "Keep the white in the AmericanInternet."The message asked readers for a donation and gave Hatch's address.Appalled Internet users, including a Jewish group, contactedBerkshireNet. Company President Michael D. Bathrick said the e-mailmessage apparently traveled world-wide.
After the initial Boston Herald article ran "U4EA" become bolder and started making specific threats targeted at the employees at the ISP. He also threatened to disrupt networks, destroy network backbones, and to cripple the computers at the Boston Herald.
Of course his threats were never carried through, BerkshireNet patched a minor security hole. BerkshireNet and the Boston Herald never experienced any kind of network outage or further problems from the hacker. In an attempt to track the hacker down the staff at BerkshireNet continued to communicate with "U4EA" via a IRC chat channel.
A technical analysis of the incident revealed that it was more a case of bragging and empty threats than actual hacking. The spoofing of Email is a very old prank, as is corrupting or modifying the kernel on a UNIX machine.
Boston Herald (3/5/96)Page 5--------- Hostile Hacker Irate At HeraldBy MARK MUELLEREnraged by media coverage of his crimes, an FBI hunted hacker hasthreatened to take revenge by crippling computer networks acrossBoston, including the one used by the Boston Herald."All of Boston is going down," warned the man known as "u4ea," a skilledbut "sadistic" hacker suspected of disrupting networks from coast tocoast. 'lf you're in Boston and you're linked to the Internet, you're(expletive deleted)."He specifically singled out the Herald for publishing several storiesabout his computer assaults, saying, "The Boston Herald goes down"yesterday.The threat, which had not been acted on by last night, came at 2 a.m.yesterday during an Internet conversation between the hacker and JasonHatch, the system administrator for a western Massachusetts Internetprovider whose company has been harassed by "u4ea" since November.Hatch saved the hour long, typed conversation and provided the Heraldwith a copy."These are certainly serious threats," said Susan Lloyd, a spokeswomanfor the FBI's Washington field office, where the agency's computercrimes squad is based. "This is something the computer squad would liketo look at."Whether "u4ea" follows through with his threat remains to be seen, butHatch and other victims have said he has the know-how to crack almostany computer system in the world."He's very skilled," Hatch said. "He can pretty much go anywhere hewants to go."The FBI will not comment on its investigation into the hacker, butsystem administrators and others say he is believed to be operatingfrom Canada, easily bilking phone companies and making his callsvirtually untraceable.In the wide ranging conversation yesterday, the rogue hackerrepeatedly crows about his skills and condemns Hatch for speaking withthe media."Don't talk to any more media people," he told Hatch. "Tell them I saidthey're all lackeys. And if they (expletive deleted) with me, I willown them all."He also threatened Hatch personally, telling him, "If you speak to themedia again, I will involve your family."Though conceding the threats frighten him, Hatch said he continues to cooperate with the press because he wants to see "u4ea" caught for theattack that crippled his company, BerkshireNet, on Tuesday.The hacker also repeatedly taunts the FBI, at one point saying, "Tellthe FBI they will have more luck finding Elvis than finding the mightyu4ea... The FBI cannot touch me."He signed off from the conversation with a final threat: "You have yet tosee true electronic terrorism. This is a promise."
After Ian harassed the reporter at the Boston Herald for several days they agreed to run a story about him and his offer to help BerkshireNet catch the hacker known as "U4EA".
Ian Murphy claimed to be coming out of retirement, but the truth was that he had just gotten out of prison, jumped parole, and was hiding out from police in Plymouth. What kind of a Moron would be hiding from the police (on a felony warrant no less), and then run to a local newspaper for publicity and to have his picture taken.
Ian Murphy spent a great deal of time talking about just how evil the hacker was, and how much havoc he was capable of (havoc which never happened). He also spent a lot of time trying to convince his audience that he was the Internet's only salvation.
Much to his credit the system administrator at BerkshireNet refused to give Ian access to the system, and refused to discuss any security related issues with him.
Effectively everybody involved was laughing at Ian, and refused to take him or anything he said seriously.
Boston Herald (3/6/96)Page 1Internet WiZ Vows to Zap HackerCaptain Zap' girds for war against computer superhackerBy MARK MUELLERA former hacker known as "Captain Zap' said yesterday he's coming out ofretirement to hunt down the lawless cyberpunk who threatened to cripplecomputer networks across Boston on Monday."I'm stepping into this war. This kid needs to be taken down," said IanMurphy; whose story of hacker-turned-security expert inspired the movie,"Sneakers.""He's a ticking time bomb, a digital time bomb just waiting to go off.He's a mad dog in the cyber community and he needs to be put downquick."Murphy, 40, who moved to Plymouth just last month after retiring from the company he founded, Philadelphia-based Secure Data Systems Inc.,called the hacker "downright dangerous" because of the man's willingnessto destroy data and disrupt systems."He can strike worldwide," Murphy said. "He can cause damage in thebillions and billions of dollars if he wants to."The FBI acknowledges it is seeking the hacker. who uses the computerhandle "u4ea" and who is suspected of disrupting systems nationwide overthe last three years.The hacker struck at BerkshireNet, a Pittsfield Internet provider, lastweek, sending out racist e-mail to thousands of people and paralyzingthe company's system for 12 hours.Enraged by media coverage of that attack, the man promised further"electronic terrorism" on Monday, telling BerkshireNet's systemadministrator, Jason Hatch, that he planned to strike at networks inBoston, including the Boston Herald."All of Boston is going down," the hacker warned in the hour long, typedconversation over the Internet. "If you're in Boston and you're linkedto the Internet, you're (expletive deleted)."By last night, "u4ea" had not followed through on his threat, but hesent e-mail to Hatch yesterday morning, calling the media "liars" andsaying they "neglect their responsibility."'They should learn from their mistakes," the mail read.Murphy, one of the first Americans to be charged with computer crimeswhen he was arrested in 1981 for creating dummy corporations andordering thousands of dollars' worth of computer equipment, says hewants to stop "u4ea" before he gets the chance to act again.Murphy's company normally pulls down $5,000 a day or more for such ajob, but the former "Captain Zap" said he's launching this searchgratis.'The Internet is not your own personal soapbox to vent your spleen inthis manner," he said. "Frankly, we don't need this crap flying acrossit."That assessment was shared by John Perry Barlow of the ElectronicFrontier Foundation, a computer issues group known more for defendinghackers than for criticizing them."I hope they catch this little miscreant as soon as possible," saidBarlow, one of the group's founders.In conversations with Hatch and other system administrators, "u4ea"concedes he has no "code," calling himself a "darkside hacker."He also has repeatedly crowed about his "elite" talents and claimedmembership in a hacker group called "BoW," telling Hatch at one point,"When people hear the word 'BoW' they start to bleed from the placeswhere I was nailed to the cross"Other hackers on the Internet have told Hatch they believe "u4ea" isoperating from Canada, though ne the FBI nor the Royal Canadian MountedPolice will say whether they are searching for him there.The trouble for Murphy is the hacker could be anywhere'He could literally be in Francisco, then go through Canada and back tothe U.S.," Murphy said.But the "slow, laborious" process of tracing the outlaw doesn't daunthim.'I consider it a personal challenge because of what he's done and hackerslike challenges,' Murphy said.
Epilogue:
After the article on Ian appeared in the Boston Herald several security professionals contacted the editor of the Herald and provided him with documents concerning Ian Murphy and his actual background.
The editor of the Herald was embarrassed to learn that Ian was actually a convicted thief and con artist (not a hacker or computer person) with a long history of pulling security related hoaxes. (Needless to say the Herald did not run any further articles concerning Ian Murphy).
Further technical analysis of the incident indicated that there was a very high probability that Ian A. Murphy was pretending to be "U4EA". Analysis also indicated that boasting about the attack on BerkshireNet was an attempt to gain publicity for a security consulting company he was trying to start after his release from prison.
Additionally, Ian's technique of scaring his victims with stories of "Computer Based Death and Carnage" and then appointing himself as the customers only salvation is a very old con and textbook scam.
Shortly after the "U4EA" incident the subject attempted arson, and was committed to a psychiatric institution. Upon his release he started threatening people and communicating terroristic threats (including threats to blow up a nuclear power plant). His victims finally obtained emergency restraining orders on him and "he promptly disappeared".
When several law enforcement officers went to "visit" Ian (to discuss his involvement in the "U4EA" hoax) they found that he had already fled the state. (They were also interested in the bomb threats he called in and sent to people).
He was apprehended six months later on four separate outstanding felony arrest warrants when he reappeared in Philadelphia wearing Pink Bunny Ears and cradling a stuffed rabbit (no kidding).
Several months later Ian confessed (or claimed) to one of his associates that he was actually behind the "U4EA" attacks, and that he was forced to flee the Boston area "when they came to arrest him". In reality the police came to arrest him on the outstanding felony warrants, and after he tried to burn down his landlord's house, tried to molest her child.
The entire incident is generally considered as a hoax foisted on the public by Ian Murphy in another one of his attempts to drum up new business (he has a history of such activities).
It was eventually determined that another person was responsible for the actual hacking incident, and that Ian Murphy was simply trying to gain attention and exploit the media converage.
In a sad stroke of irony, Mr. Murphy's list of references and corporate clients now includes both BerkshireNet and the Boston Herald. However, both companies have stated that they are not, nor have they ever been his "clients".
Typical bogus "Corporate Letterhead"
This is the letterhead which Ian has used to impress targets, send out threat letters, and to obtain goods and services on credit. This is just one example of how Ian creates and uses fake company names (and fake letterhead).
In the event that you receive a document which appears to be similar to the following you should be very suspicious and carefully verify all details of what you are told.
An investigation indicated that the companies do not exist actually (they are fake), the phone numbers are bogus, and the address for the "corporate headquarters" is actually Ian geriatric parents home address .
The "Our Other Fine Family of Corporations" which are listed are fake, none of them are registered with any state, county, or city government agencies (as required by law). The locations of "Covenstead Farms", "Hereford", and "Lancashire" are all bogus and used to "lend a air of sophistication to the stationary".
Typical Threat Letter - Forged Headers
On January 26, 1998 the author of this page (Jim Atkinson) received the following "mystery letter", an analysis of the message very quickly indicated that most of the E-mail headers had been forged. However, the sender of the E-mail obviously lacked the technical ability to fully cloak his (or her) true identity.
The message was easily traced to a WorldNet dial-up account registered to Ian A. Murphy located at 131 W. Girard Street, Philadelphia, PA. Further analysis of log files at WorldNet indicated that Ian's account had been active for over four hours prior to this message being sent (and was active for two hours afterwards). The SMTP logs indicated that there was a perfect match between the headers on the E-Mail of the WorldNet SMTP security files.
If you very carefully read how Ian talks about himself in the third person you can gain an interesting insight on his insecurities, and how he really feels about himself (which is really quite pitiful).
Several people have come forward and reported receiving similar "third person warning letters" from Ian. These letters all talk about just how "bad" Ian was, and how evil things were going to happen to them.
It is amusing how Ian goes to such great effort to warn about lawsuits, and how he tries to scare the person receiving the E-mail. Of particular interest is the seventh paragraph which contain threats of grave bodily harm (including murder). A linguistic analysis of the message indicates that the sender suffers from severe paranoia, and a probable psychiatric pathology.
Notice how Ian signed the letter "Peter H. Winston", he has a long history of using false names, and sending people letters signed by "third parties". Compare the format and the linguistic content with that of other E-mail message which Ian has sent out, the results are always the same.
We have confirmed that did indeed Ian sent the following message, and appropriate actions were taken to ensure that this behavior would not be repeated. (Never bring a knife to a gun fight)
Received: from mtigwc04.worldnet.att.net (mtigwc04.worldnet.att.net[204.127.131.33]) by mx.tscm.com (8.8.8/8.6.9) with ESMTP id DAA20638for; Mon, 26 Jan 1998 03:13:52 -0500 (EST) Received: from email.com ([12.68.110.135]) by mtigwc04.worldnet.att.net(post.office MTA v2.0 0613 ) with ESMTP id AAA27973 for
; Mon, 26 Jan 1998 07:10:08 +0000 Message-ID: <34CC36CE.53428B2B@email.com>
Date: Mon, 26 Jan 1998 02:10:07 -0500
From: "you have no idea!"
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To: jmatk@tscm.com
Subject: Who are you and why do I have to hear from you
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X-UIDL: 65e702a82dc5b404f82e9e818bd6a436To who ever you are and why I am getting your mail,
In reference to your assertions that such things have occurred, wesuggest that you get your facts straight! As far as I know, that emailhas been around for a number of months (8) and it is nothing more thansomething that is to cause trouble. How I got on your mailing list meansnothing to me and I wish that you would stop sending me things that meannothing to me. In reference to your thoughts, the fact that he has noaddress is not of your concern or anyone else's.
In fact that this email was sent to any hundreds of thousands number ofpersons, was sent out as a spoof to see how much damage could be done.And it is a known fact that the e-mail was sent by one of his enemiesfor just the fact that it might hurt his alleged business and allegedreputation. It might have even been you who sent it far all we know. Ifthat is the case, then you are just as bad or a sicko / whacko as thissupposed guy is as you state. And if you feel that "he" is causing youso much grief, then why not just grow up and have a glass of wine.Nothing in life is worth the agravation that you seem to have. Get overyour petty thinking and live your life as others do. You are a betterman than him, so you need to wake up and smell the fresh air!
To continue, frankly, I have no thoughts one way or another in referenceto your childish whining or thoughts. I just know that this is not thetruth. I do not care one way or another about what ever your pettysquabbles are or might be. I just feel that you are invading my privacyby sending out this sort of message and that you were never invited byme to even send any mail. And that fact that you are even asking forsome sort of apology from his sort, is blowing into the wind. You mightas well give it up. This guy can make people's lives a living hell whenit comes to the IRS, the DEA, and a few other agencies that can make allof our lives just one big pain in ass for a long, long time. I know thisfirst hand. I have been through the legal wringer when it comes to "him"who ever he is!
Concerning your assertion that he stole your image, we would suggestthat you go ahead and start reading your law and see that if an image ischanged in any manner and that image is not registered with the USCopyright office, then the onus is upon the alleged owner and if theimage is copyrighted by another before anyone else you may be out ofluck. I know just such things as a graphic artist here in San Franciscoarea. In addition, the address given to Internic are for his safety, notyours. Just because you have the stupidity to give your address toInternic does not mean that he has the same form of mental illness thatyou may have.
It is a know fact that any number of persons or sites do not have theproper information of record at all. And if you are that stupid to havethe correct information listed, then shame upon you for your stupidity!I do not know who the hell you think that you are, but you must want tohave a GIANT wake up call from this guy. I have tried to do the samething that you have tried and it is not worth the time, money oraggravation. He is someone who made a number of things happen to me thatwere not in my best families interests and I went through a number ofgovt. hassle's that were not all that fun.
In fact, I suspect that he was was the reasons that their were a numberof audits done, my taxes looked into in a major way, and was able tohave any number of other things happen. And I might add that it WAS ALLVERY LEGAL AND PROPER! Or so say the finest lawyers here in Calif. Theydid their research and got a very rude call from some federal types whobasically said that they should be looking into other matters beforethey continued with the investigation. There was something said abouthim maybe being someone who works undercover in some sort of drugoperation or something of that nature. All I know is that something isvery strange about this guy and that he has some very interestingfriends that seem to want to keep him protected. I know, I spent closeto 50 K and 2 years of my families life trying to free myself from thehell that was sent to me as a gift for trying to try and shut down thisguy or who ever it is that is saying that they are him.
Also, you have no idea who this guy is or who he works for. And from allof the research that I have done, this is not even the guy you arethinking of. In fact, maybe you should begin to wonder who he really isbefore you go shooting your mouth off and getting into some real majortrouble. This guy has more friends in very high places more than any ofus want to know about. He seems to work for the secret service, the FBIand DEA and some very, very strange people who are in the military.Helooks into the closet where most of us do not want anyone to look or canlook. From what I can tell, he is someone who is not to be fooled within any manner when it comes to computers and communications. You couldwake up with your throat slashed, or have your car explode in flames.
He takes great pride in taking on the real major drug and other types ofsleazy corporate assholes of our world and turning them into littleone's and zeros by modem.Do you have any idea with what your are messingwith? In fact, it has been found out that this guy is not even his realname. It is someone who is trading upon his alleged name and the peoplethat you called, we also called and got the same type of response andtrying to make all of us think that such things are going on. This guyis no one to fool with from what I can tell. And the fact that you havesent out your little tirade against this guy may be the worst thing thatyou could have ever done.
I got a visit from 3 dark suit guys with some sort of very strangefederal or military connection. They showed some ID, but it wassomething that I could not understand. I think that maybe it was AirForce OSI or something like that. I was "asked" to cease and desist inmatters that dealt with some sort of "national security" and to just goaway! I got a very indignant with them and I was told that it would notbe in my best interests to continue my course of action. And if youlook, there were a number of suits filed against Compuserve and someothers who pulled this same sort of things and they got shut down in notime. It is rumored that this guy works for something called the FederalSurveillance Court and more than likely according to my lawyers worksfor something also called the NRO what ever that hell that is.
All I know is that it has something to do with the military nuts andthat in it self makes it all so very strange. In fact, maybe you shouldthink that if you were to pretend to continue with such assertions, thenyou might see yourself in a FEDERAL court of law against a battery of USattorneys and the others who stood there in Army and Navy uniforms.
There were lots of little talks between the judge and these guys and allsorts of things between the US guys and the military guys. It was moststrange. I have to tell you that my lawyers said that he was supposed tobe there. But he was never there! In fact the pictures of him that wereon the web site that you addressed are not even him. I think that I sawhim for about 30 seconds. He comes with dark short hair and beard. Youmay know the type of haircut. It is one of those federal types that isjust perfect for the washington types.
This guy is clean cut and all american looking. He could be a poster boyfor J. Edgar Hoovers storm troopers. And this was not the guy that wehave all seen in the web sites. This guy is protected in some verystrange manner and does not fool around and makes people like you thinkabout the next message that they send out as maybe the worst thing thatthey could do in reference to law. As an alleged leader of the computerunderground, you have no idea who he is and how he travels around thecountry. In fact maybe you should be very wary of his sort. These peopledo not fool around when it comes to filing suits for the fun of it. Inaddition, you better know that as far as I know, he is completelyjudgment proof. He has nothing in his alleged name and keeps it that wayto stay safe. It is just that simple.
I suggest that you do not continue this form of electronic farce. Youmay wake up one day to a very nasty federal process server who will justadd more paper work to your life like I had and then take you to thecleaners by trying to defend yourself aginst this guy or who ever he is.And I suggest that you take this to heart. You do not want this guy tobecome very good friends with his US lawyers. He has already made many,many persons life a living hell and loves a good court fight! I suggestthat you retract your statements before you get served with some veryreal, no kidding, they mean it type of paper. I have been through it andit is not worth the time to spend in court trying to get your pointacross. I have tried, and lost! Something about him is just not real innature and it makes it most interesting that so many wasington types arethere to shut you down.
My attorneys looked at all of the same things and were told in nouncertain terms to "go away" in a manner that was not so nice by somevery strange federal types and the federal judge just looked and saidthat the suits were dismissed due to "national security".I do notproclaim to be a lawyer, but I do know one thing. When a judge sitsthere and says case dismissed in under 3 minutes due to some sort ofstrange federal / military law and the lawyers are sitting theredumbfounded and numb, you do not go pissing into the wind. We even tookthis to a higher court and got the same thing. And all in under 5minutes in this next round of action.
I don't know who you are or do I really care. Just stop sending me yourmail and take me off your list. I have had enough of all of this and Ijust wish that this continued movie would end and I can continue my lifewith my kids and wife and our cats. Please take us off your mailing listat once.
Peter H. Winston
Desmond Hills, CA
Typical Macro Generated Threats - Quite Hilarious
Ian Murphy has a reputation for sending out long rambling letters full of laughable threats, venom, and his own personal angst. It's obvious he has a pathology, some serious hostility and contempt towards any type of authority figure including law enforcement, security people, his parents, the law, and the court system.
His lengthy rants are typically sent late at night or during the early morning hours between 2 am and 4 am, and often involved 10-15 pages each.
The joke within the security is that Ian has macros in his computer which are programmed to randomly compose his threat messages and Email or fax them out.
What follows are a few excerpts from some of his more laughable threat messages. His threats are hilarious, and it's pitiful that someone his age would behave in such an unprofessional manner. His messages ramble on for pages, often repeating threat, after threat, after threat.
His threats are pure and utter bovine droppings (to put it mildly), and should not be taken seriously. His threats are good for a laugh, and for growing roses, but little else.
Notice how his threats lack any type of structure, and are often filled with all capital letters and repetitive punctuation. His threats are so poorly written that they appear to have been written by a drunken high school freshman (well, OK maybe a drunken sixth grader).
Dozens of people within the security community have received his threats, petty tirades, angst, and hostility (usually after they terminate his account). If you receive any threats such as these from the subject, just ignore him (he's not worth the effort to respond).
Over the years he has threatened people, thrown had his little temper tantrums, and occasionally stalks and/or terrorizes someone for a while (until they obtain a restraining order). He has a history of physical assault, and of molestation. He likes to call in bomb and arson threats, and send threats of murder to people via Email, fax, and phone. Court records indicate that he has even gone so far as to threaten to blow up a "nuclear power plant" to gain attention.
Various Threats Received from Ian
Murphy:
The following is a collection of the bizarre threats which the subject has sent to a number of his victims.
Often the person receiving these threats are members of the law enforcement or security community. When he gets caught he
likes to promise big lawsuits and promises to prosecute criminal cases. It should be noted that the subject is terrified of a
courtroom, but still loves to make his threats about legal action.
Also, it should be noted that all con-men talk about big lawsuits, and how they are going to get people arrest, put in prison, etc. Any security or law enforcement professional gets these kinds of threats all the time (usually from shoplifters and other two-bit criminals and felons).
Disclaimer: We are not responsible if while reading these threats you pass out from laughing. We are also not responsible in the event that you choke while trying to laugh, and then blow coffee out your nose. Please do not try to send out threats like this yourself, they are for the exclusive use of professional con-artists only.
In fact, my clients are most pissed about your actions and have informedme that they think that you are someone not to be trusted for suchactions.I suggest that you seek legal counsel for your actions of,I have and youare in a world of trouble!
I have so much access from any number of sources and that will neverstop!
Who the hell do you think that you are?
I have so many accounts all over the planet, all over the country,Mexico and Canada, that the fact that you think that you can play inshutting my access down is just a plain waste of your time and mytime.
Did you have fun with WorldNet? Wait until the next ISP you call, tells youwhere to get off! I own part of this one and a few others now and theywill all tell you take a powder!
Next step, is to set up multiple servers in areas where you can noteven think about, off-shore!
I am setting up so many domains all over the world, that you will notbe able to keep track of any number of servers that will hold myinformation.
I really do not think that you want to play with me in this respect, youwill lose that battle.
I think you know that I have the capability and the resources to makethings happen like this.
And in addition, there you will have no access and no assistance.Because all of the servers will be mine.
I suggest that you act as an adult instead of this childish action thatyou have pulled.
I do not care who you talked to, I have the documents and the facts andyou do not!
Tell me, when was my web site pulled and for what reason? Do you reallyknow? I do not think so in any manner!
This is harrassment in the first degree! And I will join them in thissuit for the fun of it!
Also, if you say that you spoke with, have released any information toanyone other than those lawfully authorized with full authorizedwarrants (which there were not), then I suggest that you re-read theECPA and refresh your legal training. It is called conspiracy on afederal level. Along with invasion of privacy, unlawful interrogation ofa source, possible misrepresentation, wire fraud, unlawful deception andI am sure a few other things that I will research to inform you of.
Never, never call me "son" again as you did in your little arroganttelephone call.
Want to try my list server? It goes to more than 79,000 users as of thisdate!
I also could have your logs and all of the address of this (your) listserve! And I also could have your systems down cold!
Do not mess with me in this respect! I have more friends both federaland hacker than you would care to think about now looking into you!
You are not worth any federal time at all and not worth the crap withthe law about your type. (And to top it all off, maybe I saw my parentsthat day also!).
Each one is just another nail in the coffin of the lawsuit that we arefiling in federal court.
I find it most interesting that you think that you are so all powerfuland whatever else it is that you think. Maybe you need some sort ofcounseling to get off this little power trip you think that you are on.You really need some major mental health help in my personal opinion!
Have you ever heard of the fact that you may have impeded upon mybusiness.
Prove your losses in a court of law is the name of the game. I can andwill! That spells out into lawyers playing games and sending lots ofpaper back and forth. If not, then we can continue this in a more propersetting. With our lawyers having a go at all of this. I have a few ofthem in MASS to make it all so much more fun and easy! 2 in Boston, onein the South Shore and another who is just begging to come after you Andthis will make all of them richer and us just more pissed about all ofthe things going on in the world. You really do not want that!
You want to try and sue me, I own NOTHING IN MY NAME JUST FOR YOUR TYPEOF PERSON OR CORPORATIONS IN THE WORLD! You can not get blood from aturnip! Sue me for all you want! Go for it! Spend the money! You willcome up with a dry well! Run a credit check! I own nothing in my name!NOTHING! I don't even have any bank accounts or cars or property oranything else to play with in my name at all! GO FOR IT!
And I am making this much more public than you would ever think couldhappen or would want to happen. I have nothing to lose at all! Check outUSENET or DELPHI, or any of the other news servers in the world. It hasbeen posted all over the place!
Please keep up the pitiful work asshole! I really want you to try andhack all of the free emails out here and you will never know which one Iam going to use next to service my clients! Plus a T-1 line! I love it!Suffer! And if you really want to try and get me, try my new ISP!SHSL.com! I am begging you to go after them! You are in for a bigsuprise! So have a lovely day and go pound sand up your ass! And youcan't stop mail from these types of systems, or hack your little penisin a tantrum of "he's on line again!" In fact, as your little paperworkreads, Am I a hacker, or I am I not? Try to hack the city ISP, thesuburbs ISP, the state ISP or anywhere else that I go to send things outfrom! You will never know where I am sending from and you will never beable to escape the long arm of the Internet when I get done!
I would hope so, as someone who states that you have a brain!!! But atthis point, I am wondering about your intelligence and motives alongwith your stability as a normal human being. But of course, I could bewrong! You could be a complete nutcase that needs to be caged at thistime! Want to play some more??????????
Please send out more information. It only helps in the press that I wantto make may case against you now! Wait until 8 AM tomorrow morning! WhanI place a call to the DA's office and give them your phone number andweb address.
You can do what ever it is that you want and I will do whatever it takesto have you shut down legally! You have just opened up a Pandora's box!And I will shut the lid down so hard on your fingers for fun if youcontinue, with lot's of costly legal paperwork. And in addition, Ireally love all of the free publicity that you are giving me. THANKYOU!!!!!!!
In simple terms, being this ungrateful, slanderous, and libel only leadsto your removal from this valuable and closely watched, screened and invited intelligence source. Your loss!
Go away or the next call is to my friends in the Secret Service withcopies of all of this and to my friends in the US AG office here. You donot want to continue this bullshit anymore.
And if you respond to this or contact me anymore or any more of my emailaddresses I will then file harrassment charges against you for the funof it and see that you get a record to add to your already soiled bythis event reputation. You have been warned and I will contact all ofthe proper authorities and your ISP to see to it that you are made awareof the laws. TRY ME!
I have lot's of people now watching your every keystroke you type andsending the emails as you send them! YOu are being watched by a group ofwatchers!
You ever threathen me again or my business or send out any more emailsof this nature, I will have you served and arrested. TRY ME! I HAVENOTHING TO LOSE! AND YOU WILL WIND UP AS PART OF A PRNEWSWIRE PRESSRELEASE and the loss of all of your personal property! I do not foolwith clowns like you! I have them for breakfast!
This is your warning! You should take it to heart! I am comming afteryou in all legal methods and courts for the fun of it! Do not test myresolve! You will lose!
This is no longer a joke! You crossed the line of ethics and legalityand I will now put you back across that line and have you shut down!
You have pissed off the wrong person when it comes to a good fight. I dothings for sport and you will now see the outcome of your bizzareactions. You have been warned. Now comes the lawyers! See you incourt!
And let's get something else clear here! If I know nothing, then why amI in so many magazine and on TV and have a movie about me and my team ofpeople?
We feel that it is in our best interest to let you know that ourattorneys are now preparing to file against you for the malicious emailthat YOU sent out and we have all of the emails and the records and willcontinue to seek redress in the courts IF THERE IS NO APOLOGYFORTHCOMING IN THE NEXT 24 HOURS.
WE HAVE THE HEADERS OF THE MESSAGES, WE HAVE ALL OF THE MESSAGES SENTOUT BY YOUR EMAIL EXPLODER AND WE HAVE FULL DOCUMENTATION AS TO YOUR LIES AND FALSEHOODS ON DISK AND PRINTED OUT AND IN THE HANDS OF THEATTORNEYS AND HAVE IT ALL READY TO ADMIT AS PART OF THE DISCOVERYPROCESS. WANT TO PLAY SOME MORE?
YOU BETTER RETRACT THAT STATEMENT BEFORE THE ATTORNEYS HAVE A FIELD DAYWITH YOU! READ YOUR STAMENTS / EMAIL TO INFOWAR BEFORE YOU OPEN YOURMOUTH EVER AGAIN, AND THE FACT THAT YOU STATED IN YOUR MAILS THAT YOUHAVE SPOKEN WITH VARIOUS ISP'S, AND YOU AND THEY BOTH VIOLATED THE ECPAIS SOMETHING THAT WE ARE NOW TALKING WITH THE SECRET SERVICE AND THE USAG'S OFFICE ABOUT, IS GOING TO GET YOU IN TROUBLE. YOU REALLY DO NEEDYOUR OWN WEB PAGE ABOUT THE ECPA AND THE LAW!
See you in court! And let's try this! Since I am such a nut after beingin a nut house as you have reported for 4 years, then you should thinkthat I am a complete nut! After all, god told me to seek out the bad inthe world and cleanse the world!
I will make sure that your site is completely legal and all materialsare fully copyrighted by you and only you.
I THINK THAT MAYBE SOMEONE SHOULD contact the SPA to find out what sortof person you really are and let them look at all of your materials andsee if you are fully compliant with all of the laws of the land!
If you do not send out this apology and I do not receive this apologyfrom you IN 12 TO 24 HOURS, then you can expect that we will continuewith the legal action already in the works and have ALL the documentsand the persons that you have sent this out to.
And if you ever state again that you were EVER threatened by me for anyreason to anyone ever again with out full evidence and proof and reasonswithout your MEALY AND FALSE, MIS-TRUTHS OUTRIGHT LIES AND allegations,then I do insure you that I will take full and complete legal actionagainst you, your firm and your property! This is no longer a joke.
You need to grow up and smell the coffee. You go away and never, neverbother me, my clients, my friends, my family or anyone else everassociated with me ever again. Do not darken my email box ever againwith your ramblings, your insanity and your lies. How stupid do youthink that I am.
Go for it! i am now waiting for you to try something else! And you willnever know if your machine is currently working to tell me where you areand what you are doing??? I see you!!!!!!!!
Wait until I place a few phone calls to the powers that be in your area.And I really do welcome all the additional press coverage that you willgive you for the fine work you have researched. You forgot the WallStreet Journal, TIME, Newsweek, Good Morning America, NightLine, CBSThis Morning, and a whole host of others.
If you ever think about ever calling or emailing my family again, myfriends, my clients or any one ever associated with me ever again, IWILL HAVE MY LAWYERS IN PLYMOUTH, BOSTON AND PHILADELPHIA FILE SUITS,NOT SUIT, AGAINST YOU AND WILL MAKE THIS A VERY PUBLIC MATTER!
STOP YOUR LIES, YOUR INNUENDOES, AND YOUR SLANDER BEFORE YOU HAVE TOSELL ALL OF YOUR POSSESSIONS TO SATISFY THE JUDGMENT AGAINST YOU!
Please keep up the good work! We all love this! And our investigation ofyou continues! You never know how much money there really is do you?
You need to apologize to me at once and to retract your statements! Ifnot, it will be process server time. AND NEVER, NEVER, EVER, EVER CALL MY FAMILY OR FRIENDS OR EVER EMAIL ANYONE WHO ARE MY CLIENTS OR PART OFANY EMAIL LIST OF MINE EVER AGAIN!
IF YOU EVER DO, I WILL HAVE THE QUICKEST RESTRAINING ORDER PLACEDAGAINST YOU FOR HARASSMENT! ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! GO THE HELL AWAY AND NEVERUTTER MY NAME EVER AGAIN OR I WILL HAVE THE LAWYERS ISSUE THE NEXTSTATEMENT FROM ME! I HOPE THAT YOU FULLY UNDERSTAND ENGLISH, YOU NEED TOREREAD THIS AGAIN AND LEARN THAT YOU ARE NOT DEALING WITH A CHILDHERE!
YOU ARE DEALING WITH A PERSON WHO WILL STAND FOR SUCH BULLSHIT FORM THELIKES OF YOU AND WILL TAKE FULL AND COMPLETE LEGAL ACTION AGAINST YOUFOR ALL MATTERS COMPLETELY!
GO THE HELL AWAY AND NEVER, NEVER, NEVER EVER UTTER ANY MORE WORDS,STATEMENTS OR DOCUMENTS, OR EVER TELEPHONE ANYONE IN MY LIFE EVER AGAINFOR ANY REASON AT ALL EVER AGAIN. I PROMISE YOU THAT IF YOU DO, I WILLTAKE FULL LEGAL ACTION AND THIS ACTION WILL BE COMING TO VISIT YOU INTHE FORM OF MAJOR LAWSUITS AND LITIGATION! AND FROM WHAT I CAN TELL, YOUCAN NOT AFFORD THIS ACTION! YOU WILL BE BROKE BEFORE YOU EVEN WALKTHROUGH A LAWYERS DOOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ok, this is now in the hands of the secret service and the fbi! Enoughis enough of your games and interference in my business. This is beingsent to a number of persons who will keep records of this and willprovide safe storage of this and the documents. Cease and Desist atonce!
That you must be passing false documents and must be acting in a mannerthat makes us all wonder about your stability. In fact, my parents sayhello, and ask how is it that I never see them when I see them all thetime!
And the secret service and the FBI now have copies of this one too!
And we now have the documents and the ticket numbers and the proof tocharge you with Federal Computer Crimes! Does October, 1996 FederalComputer Crime law ring any bells! It's called Industrial Espionage andBusiness Disruption! Got you now!
It's called Wire Fraud, Fraud, Forgery, Theft by Deception and a fewothers that the federal boys have mentioned to me!
I have talked with the MASS State police and they are now looking intothis as well as the Pa State police.
Seems you forgot to figure out that I had service on a number of ISP'sin the past, around the country, in the world, and you had no idea's asto the names or the accounts or the dates of creation, or any of thephone numbers involved. I am going to enjoy this alot!
Get a good federal criminal defense lawyer! You are going to need it!
No I really think that you need a wake up call! So I will set the alarmclock and let it go off in your ear!
And never be seen in Computer Security, you must be kidding! I am reallygoing to enjoy the bust of you and the rest of your little crowd.Besides it will only generate more press for me and worse press for youand your group.
Well we will make sure that you get the NARC factor brought to your doorin the form of a search warrant.
So I would be very careful from now on! After all, who knows who is nowlistening in on your lines and computers?
I would start cleaning out my hard drive and my little apartment. Afterall, you would not want them to find anything in your place. Wouldyou?
Karma does come back to bite you in the ass, and if you ever contactanyone ever in my life ever again, I do promise you that this will befully addressed in a court of law!
And as of today, I have sworn out a warrant for your arrest for Fraud,Wire Fraud, Theft by Deception, Forgery, Theft by Unlawful Taking, andthe topper of it all, you calling in a bomb threat to the PhiladelphiaPolice!
The Fed's and the State police loved that one the best! You are a menaceto society according to one of the investigators!
Did you know that the Fraud Squads of MASS and PA State police are nowinvolved? And then comes the civil suit being filed in Federal DistrictCourt! You are going to love this!
BTW, nice try with the phone system. That is also on record with the FBIand the Secret Service as of today! Hope you like your upcoming felonyrecord!
Ever been in jail? I am going to send you some magazines since you willhave so much time on your hands to read in the near future! It's called5 years for each count, with an additional 20 for the wire fraud!
And to top it all off, I have contacted my friends at the Boston Heraldand the Boston Globe and the Philadelphia Inquirer and the New YorkTimes.
Hope you like the newspaper stories and in addition, wait until you seethe PR NewsWire Piece about this and our statement concerning yourallegations!
Quick call your lawyer and have him threaten me with a lawsuit! I loveit!
And this email has been sent to a number of persons too for security andto the FBI and Secret Service. Think I am kidding! Test me!
Now you have cost me a little bit of time, and some money, but now I amgoing to cost you all of your money for your defense!
Do you think that you are playing with a child?
And if you ever contact anyone ever in my life for any reasons, then youwill have to answer to our attorneys who are now getting ready to haveyou served
Any drugs? Fed's and the US Attorney's hate your type and just love toget your type's nut's in a wringer!
Wait until I get all of this out in the legal open spaces and see whathappens to you next professionally!
I am going to see what sort of permits or liscenses you have and bringthis to the attention of the proper agencies so that they are all pulledand you go out of business.
My, how brave! How noble! What a Super Hacker you are! I should quiverin your sheer magnitude of superiority! You are my knight in shiningarmour! Our Hero! May I walk with you someday and learn from themaster?
Who are they to pass judgment on anyone, let alone the likes of you toeven think that you could ever pass judgment or even walk near myshadow!
And if you ever think of calling anyone ever again in reference to me,you will find that my personal friends in Philadelphia Office of theSecret Service have already talked to all of them and told them thetruth.
Remember, when one has to fight, always fight with the rules on yourside. You always win the battle and the war when you do! Never sink tothe bottom-feeder level of your low-life scum enemy!
I am having them remove you in handcuffs! And did you know that they aredoing a story on you in the Boston Newspapers, the Local Mass. papersand in the Philadelphia region? Seen the PR NewsWire story? You aregoing to be very famous for your actions! You must be so proud!
And wait until the civil suit hits! I guess that you will be paying mefor a very long time!
Makes a wondeful fashion statement! See you in court in your orangejumpsuit!
I will spare no expense to see you in jail for the Federal ComputerCrimes!
You have no idea as to the grief that I am bringing you!
I just got a T-1 and my own network. You get to threathen me all youlike and I will just ignore you
Guess what? can't find me yet! i am looking into your bedroom windowasshole! i am living in your little town and having a fish sandwhich aswe type! I will see you in jail in the next 72 hours for all of youractions. Did you know that the FBI is looking into you as well as aprivate dick and an investigative company?
Response to his threats:
Bwaaa-Haa-Haa-Haaa, Snort,
Har-Dee-Har-Har-Harr,
Bwaaa-Haa-Haa-Haaa
- ROTFLMAO
The following piece of humor was sent by Ian to a number of people.
The most amusing thing about the post is where he states that he was "off line [for months] due to hard drive problems", but wait... doesn't Ian also claim in other places that he is a computer expert, master hacker, forensics expert, and such. Yet on the other hand he claims to be unable to be able to recover his hard drive for months. As you might imagine, there is something wrong with this message as it directly contradicts his previous claims of being an expert.
A more likely scenario is that Ian had been evicted again, was homeless for quite a while, and was storing his computer elsewhere.
Typical Whining Letter
On January 21, 1998 we received the following "unprofessional whining letter" from Ian Murphy. He seemed to be having a problem with his "girlfriend of the moment", and wanted to whine about it to everybody he could reach (all 87 people).
According to a witness to the events of "what really happened" Ian suffered a severe emotional breakdown shortly after Christmas. Ian's landlord/girlfriend was having several major problems with him and she had told him to move out.
Several days later he assaulted himself by repeatedly running head first into a wall, and slamming himself into walls and furniture.
He then called the police, and tossed himself down a flight of stairs just as they arrived. When the police showed up Ian claimed that his landlady/girlfriend had just beat him up.
The police report indicated that the injuries were probably self inflicted. According to police and court records this was the fourth such incident where Ian hurt himself, and then blamed someone else (usually a girlfriend, wife, or landlord).
Received: from snip.net ([12.68.110.244]) by mtigwc03.worldnet.att.net(post.office MTA v2.0 0613 ) with ESMTP id AAA13427; Wed, 21 Jan 199802:22:41 +0000
Message-ID: <34C55B54.436B403A@snip.net> Ok, well, all of you
have been wondering where I have been for the lastone month and a half, and I am here to tell all of you. That you know,you
have not been receiving your email alerts from me for the last oneand a half months. This is due to the fact that I
currently have been a victim of thejustice system and I have lost my home. It is was deepest regrets thatI must tell you
these things. Now there are currently a number ofpeople in my life who are sitting there and saying to me that I shouldnot
tell you these things, but I feel that is most in my advantage andfor you edification and education that you know these
things. I have currently been the victim of spousal abuse, and I am not realproud of all this. It is something that I feel
it is some things thatshould not occurred to a human being at all, and is something that issomething that we should never
experienced as humans. What, hashappened to me. The story, is too long and drawn out for you to dealwith or to experience.
And it is not in any of our interests to goahead and experience this story again. All I can say to you is that weare
currently and I am experiencing a problem in life that make surethat we all have a severe wake-up call to what is going on in
society ingeneral and in our own personal lives. It is a very sad commentary,that we must tell you this, and that we must
experience this particularaspect of our lives. But, we feel that he is most important that we share it with all of you.I,
currently am the subject of a severe physical beating of my personand have experienced severe medical conditions that are not
allowed ofinany normal society. My current condition equals that of I am blindedin my left eye, having severe kidney damage,
and being to go ahead andcommunicate with you at this time in a matter that requires the mostsimplest of thoughts at this
time. It is a very sad commentary, when afellow human being, has had very life force of that individual removedfrom the
planet surface and being beaten and be very wary of the entirepopulation as a whole. I am telling you my friends, that I was
severely beaten by a loved onein my life who I considered to be a friend of mine, a lover, a personwho I could spend the rest
of my life with. But, I seem to have beenbadly mistaken. And so, it brings us to this particular aspect of my life and
yourinformation. And you know, you have been privy to a number of securityaspects of the information World that have been
part of your life oryour computer, or have been part of the daily abuse of you, by me. I doapologize! But I can tell you
that you can tell the information thatyou have received from me has been most important and at timesentertaining. Which
brings us to this point. At you know, for the lastone point five months you have not received any information from me orhave
received any news alerts that would elaborate to understand what isgoing on in the Internet/computer security community. We
are making sure that this does not occur in the future. The currentemail address that you see as the address from which this
informationhas been released, is only temporary. Our domain, and our email addresswill be returning to you in the near future.
We will make sure that youor your entity will where and made aware of all circumstances ofinformation security and
Communications security in the near future. We regret any inconvenience or dismay that has been brought about due tothe fact
that you have not been able to receive these timely andinformative news alerts. Thank you very much for your support and
yourkindness and understanding. Ian A. Murphy
Date: Tue, 20 Jan 1998 21:20:08
-0500
From: Security Alert News
X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.04 [en] (Win95;
I)
MIME-Version: 1.0
To: "\"by way of Xxxx Xxxx
Subject: Important News and Information More to Follow!
Content-Type:
text/plain
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
X-UIDL: 7e6d5ac86e57d0d313d58fc1ccb37479
Captain Zap
Even More Amusing Whining
I have again been the victim of spousal abuse, and I am afraid that this crazy person is going to try to kill me in a few weeks. She has turned into another monster and Iam scared that she will hurt me again!!! She keeps stealing from me, terrorising me and Iam to scared to sleep.
Please help me I don't want to die or suffer any more!!!!
Do you have an extra room I can
rent for a few weeks?
I need a new place to live! PLEASE HELP ME!!!
Ian A. Murphy
My Life now destroyed!
I fell in love with the worlds best woman and she started having an affair. I am sorry about not being the best I could for her. Her name is Pam and I now sit with a broken heart and ever so lost.
My Online Life
I spend my days crying and thinking how to go on. I sit a write poetry and will share it with anyone who wants to read it. The titles are Shattered Dreams, Suicide and other aspects of Love, and I always Brought you Flowers. All are very sad, and I cry each time I read them. All tell the story of a man who fell so very deeply in love with that once in a lifetime person. But Pam could not see that I was hurting for so very long and I did not see that she was also hurting too. I begged her to go to counseling, but I was refused. I left Pam on Oct 8th at 8:30 PM crying as she was crying too. Why we never fought to save us, I will never know.
My Interests
I have no more interests except this depression that follows me everywhere I go. want to read some poetry?
Shattered Dreams
Ian A. Murphy
October, 2000
For the only woman (Pamela Jo Braukman) in my entire life who really meant everything to me, I leave this to you, as my love is no longer wanted. It was written in the Month of October, 2000 after we had split up and I was in tears that night. Can you remember that night? Can you remember the child's eyes that you saw in my face and the fact that I am dying as we parted? Do you remember me at all as being scared?
Ian
Shattered Dreams
What is a man without a love and a family? He is nothing to anyone! He remains an outsider to all, looking into the warmth that is so very missing in his life and dies of a lonely & broken heart. He stands each day ready to do battle with life and for his family, and yet still has nothing to show for his days efforts without love at his side. He stands for truth and love and yet has none in his life, and that like a cancer, eats at his very soul to the end of his time. I know this, I am that man!
This is not Kansas anymore
A time when the fields of life were full and bountiful, the warm sun shining down on your face and the gentle rains to help your life grow. Yes, these were fields of plenty and the harvest long in the making. And of the future harvest, you would see your toil & handiwork in full flower. But no more, for the fields have dried up, the sweeping vista of love decimated by a cold and broken heart and the sky is clear no more.
The Darker Accords of Love
Did you take time today to tell me that you love me? Did you see the hurt on my face? Are you able to see the pain that flows from me? For these accords, never spoken, are the ones that live the longest in the heart. The words "I love you!" mean so very much and in that time that it takes to say them, the sun shines, the warm wind blows so softly and the heart beats a bit faster.
Storm Clouds and Thunder
What the Love storms bring is destruction to the heart, flooding of the mind and surges of flowing tears. The timber of the heart lies cracked and torn from roots thought to go so deep, but lived only on the surface. The mind floods with questions of time and sorrow. The thoughts that come are asked in pain and despair. The thoughts that come are questions of guilt and suffering to not know until now, and the mind races with question and question with never an answer given that brings the truth.
What did I do Wrong?
What is it that tore us apart? From the time of work to the time of love, I gathered my strength knowing you were at my side. And in that, my days were full and bright, the nights held in gentle sleep and dreams of forever. For the days began with a simple kiss and step to work, with the return promise of life still growing and to flourish. With sweat and fear, struggle and reward, was mine to have at the time when work would end and my sweet return to you was afoot. Now, in question, I sit in bitter struggle with a heart so torn and shred, my mind racing with questions and remembrance, my soul dark from the loss of your light, and I remain frozen in time, lost to the harsh wilderness and the loss of my hearts life.
Weapons of Mass Destruction
Hearts of two that seemed so joined for all time, invincible and defended against all together, then start to break apart, and times of fury and grief do flow. The hearts that sang in groups of others sharing love now beat apart like drums calling for the end of time to arrive. The minds eye views the carnage with tears of pain and tears of sorrow to never see
http://hometown.aol.com/ravensceo2000/myhomepage/profile.html
[Uploaded: 03-Nov-2000 11:32]
Basic Facts
I am a man who had his heart broken by a woman who I thought that I could trust for the rest of my life. Her name is Pam and I fell in love with her. But she started to have an affair and now, I am without her and have taken a vow to spend the rest of my life alone because I thought that trust was so very important and wonderful. I love Pam very much and it has cost me everything in my life including her. She is on the Older Divorcee Board and the Nair and Far board. She broke my heart so completely and on the last night that I saw her, i asked her if she loved me. She said she did not know. I love her. But she is now in love with another and broke me and my childs heart completely. I hope that she is happy with my broken heart. I trusted her so very much!
I like to write poetry and prose now
I like to write.
Thats about it!
If you want to write to me, you can write to me and I will tell you all about my love for this woman and
how she broke my heart with lies all the time I was telling her that I love her with the phrase "Did I tell you that I love
you today?"
My Online Life
nothing now!
Temple University Letter
Reportedly, Ian has been telling media contacts, reporters, and prospective customers that he attended and graduated from Temple University.
According to Temple University he never attended any courses (let alone earn a degree).
Excerpt from interview with Chris Goggans "Erik Bloodaxe"
Every time some hacker gets arrested, or some type of "cyber-prank" gets into the news Ian immediately tries to get free publicity. He sends out bogus press releases, highly amusing security alerts, and starts harassing reporters to interview him.
Several years ago a small group of hackers known as the "Legion of Doom" were busted. Ian first claimed membership in the group, and then claimed that he had started the group. When none of these claims gained him the attention he craved he then began claiming that he alone was responsible for the "takedown" of the hacker group (which is of course pure fantasy).
What follows is part of an interview with Chris Goggans (one of the confirmed members of the hacker group). In this interview he indicates one of Ian's more popular ways of trying to get attention.
Date: Sun, 30 Oct 1994 18:22:12 CDT
Subject: File 1--Interview with Erik
Bloodaxe
(NOTE: The following are portions of an interview with
"Erik Bloodaxe" by Netta Gilboa of Gray Areas
Magazine.
For those new to computer culture, "Erik Bloodaxe" was
a member of the original "Legion of Doom," a modest
media
celebrity, and more recently, the editor of Phrack.
Excerpts from interview with Chris Goggans "Erik Bloodaxe"
at Pumpcon, 1993. From:GRAY AREAS, Fall, 1994 (Vol 3, #2):
pp 27-50.
GA: There's been a lot of debate about who was in that group. Seems like everybody in the world wanted to be. Ha, ha. So many of the hackers I meet say they were.
CG: There are always going to be people who want to run around and say, "Yeah, I was in the Legion of Doom." And I know everybody who was in it. I've got a list of everybody who was in it and written about everybody who was in it. We all know who was in it, so it really does not make any difference. If some joker off the street is going to come up and say, "I was in The Legion of Doom," who really cares, you know, what's it going to get him today? It doesn't mean anything, because the group is not around anymore. Um, if they know something, well, their knowledge alone should speak for itself and should not have to relay on the name of some group that does not exist to try to perpetrate some sort of false image to other people, so it really doesn't happen that often.
We see people like Ian Murphy, for instance. I've still got newspaper articles with him in it saying that he was in Legion of Doom, and in fact, he has told some people, and some business acquaintances of mine, I guess in some desperate attempt to generate revenue, that not only was he in Legion of Doom, but he founded it, ha, ha, so, that's nice and he can continue to delude himself in a lot of things. If anybody wants to live in delusion, well that's their right, I suppose. It doesn't mean anything to me.
--- SNIP ---
Typical Letter of Reference
Ian Murphy like to publish a long List of "Clients and References" all of whom (he claims) pay him millions of dollars per year in security consulting fees.
These "clients" were contacted and were asked to provide a formal reference regarding their dealings with the subject. Most of them had never heard of the subject, but the few who did strongly indicated that the subject was a con artist "...who was not to be trusted..."
This is a typical reference letter that was provided by one of the subjects "clients", and there are many other very similar letters.
Fraudulent Domain Registrations
The "1258 Country Club Rd" address is that of Ian's mother, and according to her; Ian is using it fraudulently, and has fraudulently used it in the past.
Registrant:Ravenswood Inc (RAVENSWOODINC-DOM) Covenstead Farms 1258 Country Club Gladwyne, PA 19035 US Domain Name: RAVENSWOODINC.COMAdministrative Contact, Technical Contact: Murphy, Ian (IM1924) ravenceo@TAMPABAY.RR.COM RAVENSWOODIN.Com Covenstead Farms USA 1258 Country Club Rd Gladwyne , PA 19035 610-555-1212 (FAX) 610-555-1212Record expires on 10-Aug-2003.Record created on 09-Aug-1996.Domain servers in listed order:NS1.IPOWERWEB.NET 64.70.61.130NS2.IPOWERWEB.NET 12.129.206.200NS1.IPOWERDNS.COM 12.129.206.202NS2.IPOWERDNS.COM 12.129.206.203Here is yet another one of his fraudulent registrations (at his mom's house). Notice; however, that the phone number he lists is that of his girlfriend's apartment in Clearwater, Florida.
Organization: IAM/Secure Data Systems Ian A. Murphy 1258 Country Club Rd Gladwyne, PA 19035 US Phone: 727-409-2939 Email: ravensceo@ravenswoodinc.com Registrar Name....: Register.com Registrar Whois...: whois.register.com Registrar Homepage: http://www.register.com Domain Name: OTTERKEY.COM Created on..............: Sun, Nov 10, 2002 Expires on..............: Mon, Nov 10, 2003 Administrative Contact: IAM/Secure Data Systems Ian A. Murphy 1258 Country Club Rd Gladwyne, PA 19035 US Phone: 727-409-2939 Email: ravensceo@ravenswoodinc.com Technical Contact, Zone Contact: Register.Com Domain Registrar 575 8th Avenue - 11th Floor New York, NY 10018 US Phone: 902-749-2701 Fax..: 902-749-5429 Email: domain-registrar@register.com Domain servers in listed order: DNS33.REGISTER.COM 216.21.234.87 DNS34.REGISTER.COM 216.21.226.87UPDATE, 26 July 2005
Bizarre Manifesto Written by "Inmate Murphy" Complaining about his Condominium Association
http://www.ccfj.net/condoprisonl.html
Cell Block 4 at Otter Key State Penitentiary
A SATIRE -- OR THE PLAIN TRUTH?
By INMATE MURPHY, IAN A.
Published June 13, 2005
My horrendous and capital crime was one that is committed each and every day all across the country. Reported by media outlets, discussed in every area of life these days as millions clamber for a similar chance, publicized and made acceptable by the very fiscal arms dealers and purveyors of such lofty thoughts indeed. It is sanctioned by and touted as part of the American Dream by attorneys, brokers and the average citizen. Bankers and financial institutions vie for the chance to help you commit this crime and provide me with the instruments of crime to guarantee my conviction. Young and old are taken in by this drug of allowed choice. Yes, I am a victim of the mass conspiracy that has gripped this nation for as long as I have remembered. My parents and my grandparents also have committed this crime, but none have ever been placed in the cement coffin that I am now in.It was just a simple day when the first vicious assault upon my life occurred. Sometime early in September, 2002, it happened. Without warning, I walked into the cell, not knowing that a life sentence was to be handed down. The judges, elderly and allegedly wise sold me on the “beauty” of the cell block and it’s sinister allure. And then the sentence was imposed on October 8th. By my own hand, I took up the pen and signed my life away to controlled thought and life. Giving up, I did not know; the simple freedoms to be hounded away by the dreaded keepers of the prison. To be under their thumb and ever gripping control, I took my own life and became part of their minion.
Freedom, once something that was taken for granted, has now become fleeting. Behind locked doors of steel and glass, to only gain access by passage through the electronically locked and watched by a camera, and to have additional electronically controlled towers of steel to control my very access to areas and my own cell. Locked doors and minds. Key access to some areas and locked out of others, even though they are part of the prison, I am trapped. Access to simple knowledge, newspapers and television is tightly controlled by the censors of life itself inside this island of stupidity and mind control; contracted and mandated; as the only source of propaganda allowed in this place, by those too ignorant and complacent of the dictators of this state sanctioned residence of tyranny; I stand as a thought criminal and lover of freedom. Even the flag of my country is banned inside this prison as it stands for freedom and life. But it is also kept hidden from the inmates and dreams of the population.
It has become a struggle to see the truth that is real truth, but I still persevere. Lies told to me as truth by the wardens. Unseen guards reporting as snitches to the rest of the general population who also as prisoners but allowed some freedoms that escape my purview. Freedom, still elusive as ever; now is only to be found on day excursions from this hell. Clad in my daily trappings and held hostage by the very same who placed me here by simple prosecution of this American Dream, I am now a prisoner in an ever losing financial and human battle against this demon called home ownership. But just not any home my friends, one that is called a condominium.
A hellish existence of societal and social death that shrouds my very thinking and traps my spirit and makes me wish for a simple life with a heaven promised of white picket fences and a backyard barbecue pit. To feel the warmth of my own fireplace and it simple glow on a chilly night is now unthinkable. A socialist society in this the land of the free, I have now unknowingly becoming part of the proletariat, a still free thinking non-member of the party, but still enslaved by it.
Even the very air that I breathe is controlled by these demonic masters, unable to open the windows where each day the light anew streams; to find only shielding; to the very internal confines of this cell. Its very smell; being mechanical and harsh, cold and musty, as the forced recirculation of life’s breath is contained and held hostage form mingling with the lifting breeze. The glow of sunlight, blocked by walls of dense dark fabric, like grey gun metal; shielding me from them and them from me, to insure conformity and one vision; to keep all vision out; or in; from ever being allowed by the controllers of this cellblock, I toil in utter darkness and the glare of harsh incandescent light, not feeling the security of the days beginnings. To never smell the spring flowers, or the clean scent after a rain, missing is the smell of a fresh cut lawn and only to remember from my youth such aromas of life, they remain elusive and distant now. Only the harsh trumpets that blare from the passing chariots are ever heard as all life is silenced and squelched by the Rules and Regulations of this prison. No life or nature itself is to be allowed and is exterminated for the alleged good of all inmates. The harshness of this antiseptic living is supported and regaled.
Water, held in high esteem for it’s pleasure in life, becomes coward and controlled as well. No choice but to drink the poisonous brew as required by the wardens. Drugged with toxins and disease, we are forced to be receptacles of their insidious liquid plan to ever control our ever being. Salt to clog our mind and body, chemicals to control and fluoridated as required by state sanctioned decree, forces our self to become part and parcel of the growing cancers delivered by tap to our cell. Unable to filter out their demands or the filth that flows from the sewers to the faucet, we become numbed and left for dead.
To forever forget that democracy was the cornerstone of the country’s founding only to see that the very thought of personal freedoms are taken away by others with no right or reason in this mausoleum of former lives gone by. Passed only to the next prisoner by the death of the last prisoner, it waits silently as a beast ever consuming the next one in its warm grasp until it closed it’s steely hand around your throat and takes your breath away.
Slowly dying, the former prisoner, like me, stands as a disastrous testament of the dream goes awry. Only those in power, the Board of Directors under the menacing glaring eye of the Property Manager are allowed to think for the rest of us and controlling our life; and to issue for forth their own edicts as a way to live and to forget the life I once had; and knowingly think that they control everything, but still I maintain my personal freedoms with visions of tranquil existence and lawn care.
Paying my captors for alleged required or mandated services found elsewhere freely as part of my former freedoms, now I beg for economic relief from such tolls from this rocky road. Spending like a drunken sailor on shore leave; these wardens take freely and give nothing back in return. Stealing with fees that would make most cringe; taking the very bread from my tin plate and seizing the simple pleasure of subtle life to insure their edicts are obeyed; I pay and hope that the alleged laws that put me here do a not also take my cell from me due to my disobedience of their illegal proclamations.
To know that my life is being watched by the elderly wardens and senile guards that have become my very captors of life itself. Draining me of the light once burning brightly and looking for each day, this prison is now my home. As a life sentence 30 to Life is handed out by the very institutions that sold me down the river as being the alleged dream, now nightmare; that has become my albatross. I hope for escape from the festering wasteland of this humanity and be freed by the Parole Boards of Real Estate.
But what of my humanity, my quest to save others from the horrible fate that awaits by their own hand by the stroke of a pen. Am I not to apply charity in my dealings with others? Or do I allow them the same fate, and same misery that now is my lamenting song? Yes! In my goals to preserve the very essence of the American Dream, I bring forth the battle cry to stay away. Save yourself! Do not be fooled by the sirens song of the dreaded Condominium animal.
Lawsuit filed by Murphy against Otter Key Condominium Association
http://www.ccfj.net/courtotterkey.htm
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE SIXTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT IN AND FOR PINELLAS COUNTY, FLORIDA IAN A. MURPHY v. OTTER KEY CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION, INC.; IAN A. MURPHY, Plaintiff, Case No. 05004539ci v. OTTER KEY CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION, INC.;MOONYEEN EVERETT, ANTHONY SIME, WILLIAM TROST, GILDA DINSMORE, EVELYN JOHNSON in their individual capacity and as directors of OTTER KEY CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION, INC.; and ROBERT C. LARTZ, DEAN GARFIELD Defendants. ______________________________________/ VERIFIED COMPLAINT COMES NOW, Ian A. Murphy (hereinafter “Plaintiff”),and hereby sues Otter Key Condominium Association, Inc., a Florida non profit corporation, Moonyeen Everett, Anthony Sime, William Trost, Dean Garfield, Gilda Dinsmore, Evelyn Johnson in their individual capacity and as directors of the Otter Key Condominium Association, Inc. (sometimes hereinafter referred to as the “Officers”), and Robert C. Lartz, and states as follows: JURISDICTION OF THE COURT 1. The amount in controversy exceeds $15,000.00. 2. All acts relevant to the present cause of action occurred in Pinellas County, Florida. 3. The real property that is the subject matter of the present action is located in Pinellas County, Florida. 4. Defendant Otter Key Condominium Association, Inc. (the “Association”) is a Florida non profit corporation. 5. At all times relevant hereto, Defendant Moonyeen Everett was a resident of Pinellas County, Florida, and was an Officer of the Association. 6. At all times relevant hereto, Defendant Anthony Sime was a resident of Pinellas County, Florida, and was an Officer of the Association. 7. At all times relevant hereto, Defendant William Trost was a resident of Pinellas County, Florida, and was an Officer of the Association. 8. At all times relevant hereto, Defendant Gilda Dinsmore was a resident of Pinellas County, Florida, and was an Officer of the Association. 9. At all times relevant hereto, Defendant Evelyn Johnson was a resident of Pinellas County, Florida, and was an Officer of the Association. 10. At all times relevant hereto, Defendant Robert Lars was a resident of Pinellas County, Florida, and was a member of the Association. 11. At all times relevant hereto, Plaintiff Ian Murphy was a resident of Pinellas County, Florida, and was a member of the Association. GENERAL ALLEGATIONS 12. On or about October 2, 2002 Plaintiff purchased a condominium unit (the “Unit”) located at 5400 Park Street North, Unit #403, St. Petersburg, Florida, in the Otter Key Condominiums (Otter Key). 13. Upon purchasing the Unit, Plaintiff became a member of the Association. 14. Otter Key is primarily occupied by elderly residents, however there is no requirement that a person be a particular age to live in Otter Key. 15. From the very first day Plaintiff moved into Otter Key he began to be harassed by the Officers of the board of directors of Otter Key, and by some other members of the Association with the Directors acquiesonce. 16. This harassment has continued to date with things such as: a. When Plaintiff was moving in, his moving truck was backed up to the building so it could be unloaded, however he was told by an Officer to move it immediately in case an ambulance needed to be summoned. b. Plaintiff used an Association shopping cart to assist moving his belongings into his Unit only to discovery the next day someone had forcibly wedged the shopping cart into his entrance in such a fashion that he could not open his door to exit his Unit. c. Each unit has a mail box to receive mail from the U.S. Postal Service, and Plaintiff’s mail box was labeled by either one of the Officers, or by a member with the acquiesence of the officers, as “MURPHY, Idiot”. See Exhibit “A” attached hereto and made part hereof. d. Within two weeks of moving in, Plaintiff was told his clothes dryer was blowing lint onto the walkways and needed to be cleaned. See Exhibit “B” the “Lint Letter” attached hereto and made part hereof. e. An Officer, or someone with the consent or with the acquiesence of the Officers, sent Plaintiff hate mail in an Association envelope. See Exhibit “C” attached hereto and made part hereof. f. An Officer announced at an Association meeting that Plaintiff was an arsonist, a drug addict, and had mental problems. g. Someone taped a prescription drug bottle to Plaintiff’s door with a note attached stating “drug addict”. h. Bob Lars,a unit owner, with the Officers’ consent or acquiesence, taped an email letter to the main bulletin board which stated Plaintiff was an arsonist, made bombs, spent most of his life in prison or under psychiatric care, used to live on the streets, and has no income. See Exhibit “D” attached hereto and made part hereof. i. Apparently the announcement at the Association meeting, coupled with the email letter attached to the bulletin board, achieved the desired results as Plaintiff started receiving hate mail from other members of the Association. See Exhibit “E” attached hereto and made part hereof. 17. Because of the constant harassment as stated above, Plaintiff decided he would run for a position on the Board of Directors so he could effectively stop the harassment. 18. When the Board discovered that the Plaintiff was a candidate for election to the Board, the Officers approved the use of Association funds to pay for a criminal background check on Plaintiff. The use of the funds to individually target Plaintiff for a background check was done without the signed consent of the Plaintiff and was done only for the Plaintiff as a candidate, but not for any other candidate. The unconsented to information was then published members of the Association for the self dealing benefit of the incumbent directors who were also candidates for reelection to the Board of Directors. 19. The Officers then went on a campaign, using information and self dealing tactice to assure Plaintiff would not be elected. 20. Further, while all of this was taking place, the Officers knew Plaintiff keep very expensive electronic equipment in his Unit. 21. Because of this equipment, Plaintiff has very strict electric requirements, such as the use and maintenance of electronic surge protection equipment. 22. Otter Key is designed in such a fashion that all electric meters and circuit breaker boxes are located in one room that is always locked. 23. It is the responsibility of each member of the Association to maintain their own electric meter and circuit breaker box. 24. As such, the electric meter and circuit breaker boxes are not common elements, they are private property owned by each individual member of the Association. 25. Plaintiff requested to have a key to the electric meter room, but the Officers denied the request for no legitimate reason. 26. Further, the Officers refuse to allow Plaintiff admittance into the room at all times, especially when a electric surge has occurred so he can check the status of his electronic surge equipment. Plaintiff was told that he could have access by obtaining a key from a Board member, which key was readily available. Despite numerous requests, by phone and in person to the directors/officers, Plaintiff has been denied access. Board members have not responded to his numerous phone requests. In fact, one officer said she didn't even know where the meter room was located. 27. To justify their decision, an Officer libelously announced at an Association meeting that if they allowed Plaintiff access to the electric meter room, Plaintiff would rip out the wires and sell them for cocaine. 28. Due to surges at Otter Key, Plaintiff has already sustained major damage to some of his electronic equipment. 29. Because of the Officers constant harassment, Plaintiff is under extreme stress which requires medical attention. COUNT I - DECLARATORY JUDGMENT 30. Plaintiff realleges paragraphs 12 through 29 as if fully set forth herein. 31. This is a cause of action for declaratory relief. 32. There is a bona fide, actual, present practical need for the declaration because Plaintiff has been denied access to his own private property. Namely, Plaintiff has been denied access to his electric meter, surge protection equipment, and circuit breaker box. 33. The declaration will deal with a present, ascertained or ascertainable state of facts or present controversy as to a state of facts, as to whether the electric meter, surge protection equipment, and circuit breaker box are member owned and as such, a member has a right of access to the equipment at any time. 34. The rights of Plaintiff have been infringed upon in that he has been denied access to his personal property, the electric meter, surge protection equipment, and circuit breaker box. 35. The Officers have, or reasonably may have an actual, present, adverse and antagonistic interest in the subject matter. 36. All necessary parties are before the Court and the relief sought is not to obtain legal advice, but to obtain an Order directing the Officers to allow any member of the Association to have access to their electric meter, surge protection equipment, and circuit breaker box. 37. Plaintiff has agreed to pay the undersigned a reasonable fee which he demands be paid by the Association as required by law. WHEREFORE, Plaintiff respectfully requests the Court enter a declaratory judgment finding the electric meters, surge protection equipment, and circuit breaker boxes are private property owned by the members of the Association and that they should have unrestrained access to the electric room at all times, that Plaintiff should be awarded reasonable attorney fees and costs, and for such further relief as the Court deems necessary and proper. COUNT II - BREACH OF FIDUCIARY DUTY AGAINST Moonyeen Everett, Anthony Sime, William Trost, Gilda Dinsmore, Evelyn Johnson In their individual capacity and as directors of the Otter Key Condominium Association, Inc. 38. Plaintiff realleges paragraphs 12 through 29 as if fully set forth herein. 39. This is a cause of action for breach of fiduciary duty. 40. Pursuant to Florida Statutes §718.111(1)(a), the Officers of the Association had a fiduciary duty to Plaintiff. 41. Fiduciary duty is defined as the duty to act for someone else’s benefit, while subordinating one’s personal interest to that of the other. It is the highest duty implied by law. 42. The Officers breached that duty by harassing Plaintiff, by publishing, or allowing to be published, libelous documents, by making slanderous statements to third persons to the detriment of Plaintiff, and by using Association funds to obtain and publish a criminal background check on Plaintiff individually, and not on any other candidate for the sole self dealing purpose of obtaining an advantage for the individual incumbent directors reelection campaign to the Board. 43. The Officers’ breach of their duty has created a hostile atmosphere at Otter Key in which Plaintiff is now the brunt of constant harassment by the Officers and other members of the Association. 44. This harassment has caused Plaintiff to suffer emotional distress and has to be under medical care and has had a negative monetary impact on Plaintiff’s business affairs. 45. Plaintiff has agreed to pay the undersigned a reasonable fee which he demands be paid by the Association as required by law. WHEREFORE, Plaintiff respectfully requests the Court enter a judgment against the Association and its Officers in their individual capacity and as directors of the Otter Key Condominium Association, Inc., finding they breached their fiduciary duty and are joint and severally liable for all damages including but not limited to actual damages and compensatory damages, and that Plaintiff should be awarded reasonable attorney fees and costs, and for such further relief as the Court deems necessary and proper. COUNT III - CONVERSION OF ASSOCIATION FUNDS AGAINST Moonyeen Everett, Anthony Sime, William Trost, Gilda Dinsmore, Evelyn Johnson In their individual capacity and as directors of the Otter Key Condominium Association, Inc. 46. Plaintiff realleges paragraphs 12 through 29 as if fully set forth herein. 47. This is a cause of action for conversion of Association funds. 48. The Officers had a fiduciary duty to the members of the Association to manage Association funds for the use, benefit and enjoyment of the Association. 49. The Officers breached their duty and converted Association funds to their personal use when they used Association funds to pay for a criminal background check on Plaintiff as a candidate for the Board for the self dealing purpose of obtaining a personal advantage in their own reelection campaign for the Board over the Plaintiff. No criminal background checks were done on any other candidate for the Board, other than the Plaintiff. 50. This use of Association was not for the benefit of the Association, but was for the personal use of the Officer in discrediting Plaintiff while campaigning for a position on the board of directors. 51. The Officers wrongfully took dominion and control of the Association’s funds and used those funds to further their own personal agenda. 52. Plaintiff has agreed to pay the undersigned a reasonable fee which he demands be paid by the Association as required by law. WHEREFORE, Plaintiff respectfully requests the Court enter a judgment against the Officers in their individual capacity and as directors of the Otter Key Condominium Association, Inc., finding they converted Association funds to their personal use and therefore are joint and severally liable for all damages including but not limited to actual damages and compensatory damages, and that Plaintiff should be awarded reasonable attorney fees and costs, and for such further relief as the Court deems necessary and proper. COUNT IV - MISAPPROPRIATION OF ASSOCIATION FUNDS AGAINST Moonyeen Everett, Anthony Sime, William Trost, Gilda Dinsmore, Evelyn Johnson In their individual capacity and as directors of the Otter Key Condominium Association, Inc. 53. Plaintiff realleges paragraphs 12 through 29 as if fully set forth herein. 54. This is a cause of action for misappropriation of Association funds. 55. The Officers had a fiduciary duty to the members of the Association to manage Association funds for the use, benefit and enjoyment of the Association. 56. The Officers breached their duty by misappropriating Association funds to their personal use when they used Association funds to pay for a criminal background check on Plaintiff. 57. This use of Association was not for the benefit of the Association, but was for the personal use of the Officer in discrediting Plaintiff while campaigning for a position on the board of directors. 58. The Officers wrongfully misappropriated of the Association’s funds and used those funds to further their own personal agenda. 59. Plaintiff has agreed to pay the undersigned a reasonable fee which he demands be paid be the Association as required by law. WHEREFORE, Plaintiff respectfully requests the Court enter a judgment against the Officers in their individual capacity and as directors of the Otter Key Condominium Association, Inc., finding they misappropriated Association funds and therefore are joint and severally liable for all damages including but not limited to actual damages and compensatory damages, and that Plaintiff should be awarded reasonable attorney fees and costs, and for such further relief as the Court deems necessary and proper. COUNT V - LIBEL PER SE AGAINST ROBERT LARS AND Moonyeen Everett, Anthony Sime, William Trost, Gilda Dinsmore, Evelyn Johnson In their individual capacity and as directors of the Otter Key Condominium Association, Inc. and the Otter Key Condominium Association, Inc. 60. Plaintiff realleges paragraphs 12 through 29 as if fully set forth herein. 61. This is a cause of action for libel per se. 62. Plaintiff is a private person and has the right to be let alone. 63. Robert Lars, with the consent of the Officers, published false and defamatory statements and/or documents about Plaintiff without taking reasonable care to ascertain the truth or falsity of the defamatory statements. 64. Plaintiff has been damaged as the false and defamatory statements have been published to third parties causing Plaintiff’s reputation to be damaged in his community, and causing Plaintiff to suffer from extreme stress requiring medical supervision. WHEREFORE, Plaintiff respectfully requests the Court enter a judgment against Robert Lars, the Association, and its Officers in their individual capacity and as directors of the Otter Key Condominium Association, Inc., finding they committed libel pre se and therefore are joint and severally liable for all damages including but not limited to actual damages and compensatory damages, and that Plaintiff should be awarded reasonable attorney fees and costs, and for such further relief as the Court deems necessary and proper. COUNT VI - SLANDER PER SE AGAINST Moonyeen Everett, Anthony Sime, William Trost, Gilda Dinsmore, Evelyn Johnson In their individual capacity and as directors of the Otter Key Condominium Association, Inc. 65. Plaintiff realleges paragraphs 12 through 29 as if fully set forth herein. 66. This is a cause of action for slander per se. 67. Plaintiff is a private person and has the right to be let alone. 68. The Officers published false and defamatory statements about Plaintiff without taking reasonable care to ascertain the truth or falsity of the defamatory statements. 69. Plaintiff has been damages as the false and defamatory statements have been published to third parties causing Plaintiff’s reputation to be damaged in his community, and causing Plaintiff to suffer from extreme stress requiring medical supervision. WHEREFORE, Plaintiff respectfully requests the Court enter a judgment against the Officers in their individual capacity and as directors of the Otter Key Condominium Association, Inc., finding they committed libel pre se and therefore are joint and severally liable for all damages including but not limited to actual damages and compensatory damages, and that Plaintiff should be awarded reasonable attorney fees and costs, and for such further relief as the Court deems necessary and proper. ________________________ Nina G. Monrose, Esq. Fla. Bar # 0088188 5200 Central Avenue St. Petersburg, FL 33707 (727) 322-0061 (727) 323-9311 fax ________________________ David Thorpe, Esq. Fla. Bar #0110523 Gulf South Center 7819 N. Dale Mabry Hwy, Suite 208 Tampa, FL 33614 (813) 933-5051 (813) 933-5061 fax ____________________________________ IAN MURPHY STATE OF FLORIDA COUNTY OF PINELLAS The foregoing instrument was acknowledged by me this ____ day of JUNE, 2005 by IAN MURPHY, who is personally known to me or produced Florida Driver's license as identification and did take an oath. My commission Expires: ___________________________________ Notary PublicStory about Murphy's Quixotic Struggle Against Otter Key
http://www.ccfj.net/condolint.html
Lint, litigation threats mark condo war
Article Courtesy of The St. Petersburg Times
By ANNE LINDBERG
Published March 30, 2005SEMINOLE - In the annals of disputes between condominium owners and board members, the ongoing battle at Otter Key must rank as a classic. It began before Ian Murphy moved in. Since then, it has escalated to the Internet. The latest installment centers on access to the electric panel to Murphy's condo. That lack of access, he says, caused about $10,000 in computer equipment to fry in a recent power surge. Had he had access to the panel, Murphy said, he could have prevented the loss. As for the board members, their attorney says they are terrified of Murphy and what he might do. "They're afraid of him," Tampa lawyer Steve Mezer said. "They take him seriously, but at the same time, he has all the rights and privileges of anyone else in the condominium." The problem, Mezer said, is that the board wants to enforce the rules, but Murphy keeps escalating the war. "He's goading you. He's perpetually threatening you," Mezer said. The threats consist of "I'm going to sue you" or "I'm going to report you" and are combined with a "sailor's mouth," the attorney said. Murphy's take on the problem is that he is the only one to ever challenge "their little fiefdom." It's the board that does the terrorizing, he said. "I am a nice, normal, lovable human being, according to a lot of people, until you p--- me off," Murphy said. "I'm not insane. I come with a brain, a dangerous brain." There is no doubt that Murphy is smart. He is in the Learning Channel's Hackers Hall of Fame for being the first person ever arrested for a computer crime. That was in 1981. Murphy, who called himself Captain Zap, was one of four people who hacked into AT&T's computers to change the clocks so customers were charged wrongly. Those who made calls early in the day were billed as if they had called late at night. Those who called late at night were charged as if they had made calls early in the day. Murphy served 21/2 years' probation and 1,000 hours of community service. He now has a consulting company, IAM Secure Data Systems, that helps companies protect themselves against hackers like him. Murphy bought his Otter Key condo in October 2003 from a friend. Before he could move in, Murphy had to meet with the board for approval, he said. Mezer said the meeting was only to make sure Murphy understood condo law and rights. Either way, Murphy said he took a friend, who did all the talking. Murphy, who resented having to be at the meeting, said he remained mum the entire time. Then came moving day. Murphy parked the truck at the building entrance. He was told to move it because it was in a fire lane. That began the slide into open warfare. Soon came the "world famous lint letter." The board wrote him to complain that too much lint was coming out of the exhaust from his dryer. The exhausts open onto the hallways at Otter Key. Murphy said he fired back a letter demanding that the board prove the lint was his. He demanded it be DNA tested and a gas chromatograph be done. Gas chromatography separates samples of volatile substances into their chemical components. Then he started a Web site, www.otterkey.com using the condo's name. It lays out Murphy's complaints about the homeowners association and the management company. "Did any of you ever come to my door and say hello?" he asks on the site. "Did any of you ever greet me as a new person in the community? No, you offered up Nazi rules and regulations to your stupid authority and well, now you get it back in spades and in hellish fire that has gone across the world. . . . "Grow up, get a life, stay the hell out of mine, don't talk to me, don't bother me, don't foist your views upon me and I will honor the same rules. If not, the rules of engagement are changed. "So in a nutshell, you leave me alone, I will leave you alone. If not, legal nuclear war breaks out and the end of Mr. Nice Guy stops, too!" Murphy urges the Otter Key owners to hire a new management company. And he tells people, "Don't buy a condo here." The latest battle concerns Murphy's access to his breaker box. Each floor's breaker box is in a locked room near the elevator shaft. Mezer, the attorney, said the board will unlock the door and pay to have an electrician stand by while Murphy fiddles with his own box. But it would be inappropriateto give Murphy unfettered access to all electric meters, he said. That does not please Murphy, who wants access 24 hours a day so he can see if the surge suppressors are working properly. A recent surge destroyed almost $10,000 worth of computer equipment, he said. So why did Murphy, who obviously does not like authority, move to Otter Key? And why does he stay there? The view from his condo, which is on the waterfront where 54th Avenue N dead-ends into Park Street. And Otter Key is surrounded by conservation land, so no development will encroach on the building. Add to that its central location, million-dollar clubhouse, heated pool and free central hot water.