eBay’s Critics Faced an Extreme Case of an Old Silicon Valley Habit

Re:eBay’s Critics Faced an Extreme Case of an Old Silicon Va... by KenanSulayman on Monday June 29, 2020 @10:31AM (#23677926)

> She had met a man on Match.com who claimed to work in construction in San Jose, Calif., and he had convinced her to send him a topless photo. He was threatening to email the photo to the entire company if she did not pay him $10,000.

> With her permission, Mr. Sullivan’s team took over her account and redirected her extortionist to a payment scheme that they knew would reveal his identity. They determined he was a former Google intern living in Nigeria.

> Mr. Sullivan’s team hired Nigerian contractors to confront him. He confessed and surrendered access to his computer and online accounts, which showed he was extorting female executives across Silicon Valley. Investigators were able to destroy the nude photos and warned his victims not to pay.

...

> a former Google intern living in Nigeria

> hired Nigerian contractors to confront him

All of this is both insane and fascinating..

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Re:eBay’s Critics Faced an Extreme Case of an Old Silicon Va... by mikestew on Monday June 29, 2020 @11:23AM (#23678426)

> hired Nigerian contractors to confront him

I assume by "contractor", it is not meant that they called up WiPro for someone who can knock out a nice PHP website in a week. OTOH, I wouldn't want to mess with anyone that has to deal with PHP week after week.

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Re:eBay’s Critics Faced an Extreme Case of an Old Silicon Va... by Melkor765 on Monday June 29, 2020 @12:27PM (#23679064)

I understood "contractor" in this usage to mean mercenary.

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Re:eBay’s Critics Faced an Extreme Case of an Old Silicon Va... by bluedino on Monday June 29, 2020 @12:41PM (#23679182)

It sounds like something out of a Taken movie.

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