2 Teen ‘Hackers’ Arrested in Extortion by Computer

Two teen-age computer “hackers” who allegedly tried to extort money from computer buffs in Los Angeles, Ft. Ord and Seaside by threatening to harm them or destroy their electronic files have been arrested at their homes in Marina, about 10 miles north of Monterey, police said today.

The two 15-year-olds, who allegedly used such computer aliases as “Modem Maniac” and “Bon Bon Man,” were turned over to their parents while authorities in Los Angeles and Monterey counties decide how, and where, they should be prosecuted, said Lt. Fred Reno, who heads the bunco section of the Los Angeles Police Department.

Detectives from the section’s computer fraud unit made the arrests Wednesday. Both youngsters are sophomores at Seaside High School.

The teen-agers’ alleged targets included: John Sands of Encino, a Capitol Records engineer who as a hobby operates a free “electronic bulletin board” from his home; a Ft. Ord-based staff sergeant and his teen-age son who subscribe to a similar bulletin board on the base; and another teen-ager who attends a private high school in the Pebble Beach area, according to police in Los Angeles and Marina. The private school student subscribes to a computer bulletin board in Seaside.

The hackers allegedly sent electronic messages to the victims through the computer bulletin boards, demanding that they send money to an address in San Jose. If the victims did not pay, the hackers allegedly threatened, they would “break bones,” smash windows, damage computers, order the delivery of unwanted pizzas and otherwise harass them, according to police and court records.

In Sands’ case, the hackers allegedly destroyed the equivalent of 400 pages of typewritten information that was stored in his bulletin board system.

Sands, who is Capitol’s chief electronics engineer, said he believes that one of the youngsters operates a bulletin board of his own.