Next steps in extortion case - ideas?

Sat Jun 28 14:32:15 UTC 2014

Hi list,

nothing operational here, but there are many smart minds on this list 
and people working for telcos, ISPs and law enforcement agencies, so 
maybe you are willing to give me some advice in the following case:

There's an individual out there on the web that has been blackmailing 
hundreds of people and companies in a specific area of business for 
years. His scheme is: 1. Contact the alleged "debtor" via e-mail and 
inform him about an existing debt claim by a third party. 2. Offer the 
debtor a deadline to pay the debt and warn the debtor if he shouldn't 
pay he'll be prosecuted and his case will be "made public". 3. Once the 
deadline has elapsed, he'll publish completely false information made 
out of thin air on the web, in particular Facebook, Twitter, a blog, a 
website, including pictures of the debtor and serious accusations like 
"This debtor is a child molestor" or "This debtor is part of the mafia" 
and other crazy stuff that you can usually only see in movies. All of 
course with real names, company information (if applicable) and 
basically everything he can find out about the debtor. 4. Then, the 
individual hopes that the debtor will be intimidated because the debtor 
is afraid of the false information about him, which will show up on 
Google etc., and will finally pay to get this false information removed 
from the web.

In all cases the published "background information" about the debtors is 
false, made out of thin air, and over the top. Just the names and 
pictures are correct. Intentional slander in order to get the debtor to 
pay. If any of the published information was true, then every 2nd debtor 
would be a child molestor and every other debtor part of the mafia.

That individual is hiding his real identity really well, obviously, and 
he knows what he's doing. Domain hosted in Russia, taking good care his 
IP address won't show up in the mail headers, using false names and 
identities, phone numbers registered through some DID provider who 
doesn't collect personal information about the DID owner etc.

I am one of the accused and had lots of false information about myself 
and my company published by him. This is why I started to have an 
interest to track his real identity down. I took 2 days out of my life 
and researched high and low and finally found his personal phone number 
along with a name, a picture of him and several possible addresses (in 
the US).

I cannot be sure that the name, picture and addresses are correct, but I 
called him on his personal phone number and after having spoken with him 
before under his false identity, I can confirm that it's the same person 
(the voice is the same). He was quite surprised to say the least.

In case it matters, according to a LRN lookup the number belongs to 
Omnipoint Communications, which is part of T-Mobile USA, I think.

My idea is to somehow confirm his identity and confirm my research by 
matching the voice of the false identity (available from a message he 
left on my voicemail and also from his voicemail intro) to the real 
person. I'm thinking about hiring a private investigator in the US (I'm 
in Germany) to drive up to the addresses I can provide the PI with and 
find the person that matches the voice / maybe even the picture. The PI 
then must document the outcome in a way that it can be used in court. 
I'm wanting to go the PI route because it will be the fastest way to 
possibly gather evidence, I assume, as opposed to commissioning a lawyer 
who will then in turn contact law enforcement etc.

Unfortunately I do not have the authority to access the personal data of 
the person that pays the monthly bill for the phone number that I called 
him on, otherwise that would be the fastest way I suppose. I spent money 
for some pay-sites that do some reverse phone lookup and stuff like 
that, and although the information was helpful, I cannot be sure that 
it's accurate.

My goal is to confirm his real identity/name and address in order to 
start a lawsuit and have a lawyer, or maybe even law enforcement, 
investigate this case and ultimately, put an end to his slander 
activities, not just for my case but for all hundreds before me and 
those which are to come in the future.

Do you think the PI route makes sense? Any other recommendations? Your 
feedback in general?

Thanks and sorry for so much text. :)
Markus