British man jailed after being tracked by FBI over 'swatting' hoax calls

A man who encouraged people to make hoax emergency calls to trigger armed police responses has been jailed after being tracked down by the FBI.

Callum Dare, 26, from Talbot Green in Rhondda Cynon Taf, was arrested in October 2019 after the FBI identified him in international chat rooms.

One incident involved a hoax call to the Los Angeles police, and another to a journalist in Cardiff claiming there was a bomb in a hotel.

It is the first conviction in Wales of "swatting" - a phenomenon that gets its name because such hoax calls in the US prompt Swat police units to be called in.

Judge Tracey Lloyd-Clarke sentenced him to two years and three months.

One of the incidents was a hoax call made to the Los Angeles police claiming there were bombs under chairs at the University of California, resulting in an evacuation.

Another incident was a false call made to Cardiff journalist Will Hayward saying nail bombs had been planted and hostages taken at the Sandringham Hotel in the city centre, leading to the area being closed off by police.

When police arrested Dare, they seized his electronic devices and found files relating to a sophisticated phishing fraud.

They were designed to collect personal or payment details of dark web users for use by fraudsters.

The dark web is a hidden part of the internet that requires special software to access, masking user identities through encrypted networks.

He admitted being the administrator of a website and taking part in online chat groups encouraging or assisting malicious communications and bomb hoaxes.

The defendant also admitted having phishing software designed to obtain login credentials for dark websites and monitor cryptocurrency in users' dark website accounts, knowing that it was designed or adapted for use in the course of - or in connection with - fraud.

Dare will serve 40% of his sentence in prison, the rest in the community on licence.

Judge Lloyd-Clarke told him she was satisfied that he intended others would carry out swatting offences in the US, a country where police and members of the public routinely carry firearms.

A spokesperson for Tarian, the regional organised crime unit for south Wales, said swatting could be "extremely serious".

"False reports place innocent members of the public at risk, cause significant disruption to communities and divert emergency services away from genuine incidents," they said.

The FBI Nashville Field Office added swatting was "not a victimless prank" but a "reckless and dangerous crime that can have deadly consequences".

Louisa Robertson, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: "Callum Dare put people in danger by encouraging the triggering of armed police responses, for his own thrills."