2 Boys Accused of Computer Extortion Plot

Two teen-age computer “hackers” who allegedly tried to extort money from computer buffs in Los Angeles, Seaside and Ft. Ord by threatening to harm them or destroy their electronic files have been arrested in Northern California, police said Thursday.

The two 15-year-olds, who were arrested Wednesday afternoon at their homes in Marina, 10 miles north of Monterey, allegedly identified themselves by such computer aliases as “Modem Maniac” and “Bon Bon Man” when they demanded money and left threatening messages on “electronic bulletin boards” used by their victims, authorities said. A modem is a device used to connect home computers to telephone lines.

“We can still make your life unfit for living,” a message to one victim read. Another stated in part, “. . . If you don’t believe, I will begin to assassinate your life, home, etc.. . . This is no threat, it is fair warning.”

The messages were described in documents filed this week in Los Angeles Municipal Court.

The teen-agers, who allegedly demanded payments ranging from $50 to $350, were turned over to their parents while authorities in Los Angeles and Monterey counties decide how--and where--they should be prosecuted, Lt. Fred Reno, chief of the Los Angeles Police Department’s bunco section, said. Reno said police do not believe that the youths actually collected any money.

Detectives from the bunco section’s newly formed computer fraud unit made the arrests and also seized a home computer and computer programs at the residence of one of the boys. The Marina Department of Public Safety, the Monterey County Sheriff’s Department and the Criminal Investigation Division of the U.S. Army also were involved in the investigation.

At an afternoon press conference Thursday, Reno said he believes that this is the first extortion-by-computer scheme ever encountered by Los Angeles County authorities.

“I believe we’re going to start seeing a lot more of this in the future,” he added.

Although Reno refused to discuss the juveniles’ backgrounds, The Times learned that both are sophomores at Seaside High School, about three miles north of Monterey.

The targets of the extortion attempts included: John L. Sands, 40, of Encino, Capitol Records’ chief electronics engineer who operates as a hobby a free electronic bulletin board called “Port Royal” from his home; a Ft. Ord-based staff sergeant and his teen-age son who subscribe to a similar bulletin board on the U.S. Army 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, said Lt. Bill Pierpoint of the Marina police.

The youths 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 to break bones, smash windows, damage computers, order the delivery of unwanted pizzas and otherwise harass them, according to police and court records.

“We don’t know of any other victims,” Reno said. “If there are any other victims out there, we would love to know about them.”

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

‘Got Power Hungry’

An electronic bulletin board acts as a switching station and information storehouse that allows subscribers to send messages, play games and otherwise converse with other computer users. A subscriber gains access to the board by dialing a telephone number and then connecting his computer to the phone line with a modem.

Reno identified one of the suspects as a subscriber to Sands’ bulletin board.

Sands said he believes that one of the suspects had begun operating a bulletin board of his own.

“I think they got power hungry,” Sands said. “When you’re sitting in front of a computer talking to other systems . . . you find out that you have certain powers. . . . “

Sands said he set up his bulletin board, named after an old pirate haven in Jamaica, about a year and a half ago and now has 500 subscribers, who are not required to pay a user fee. Excluding the value of his time, the board costs only $7 a month to operate, Sands said.

No Other Suspects

Police do not believe any more suspects are connected with the case, Reno said. He added, however, “We are getting some information that there . . . is a group of computer users who might be in the game of calling up . . . bulletin boards and playing these kinds of games. We’re starting to get a small line on them now.” Reno said he could not elaborate.

Police were unsuccessful in their attempts to trace the telephone calls made to Sands’ bulletin board because the calls were routed through several switching stations maintained by private long distance telephone services, according to court documents.

The youths allegedly used a less sophisticated method when they tried to collect the money. The apartment in San Jose where the payments were directed is occupied by the sister of one of the juveniles, according to Marina police. That apartment led Los Angeles police to the teen-agers, Reno said.