Marriott IT is hacking male students for blackmail money. Please help.

[Foxy Sparkle]

Jurisdiction

Other

To whom it may concern,

I really appreciate if someone could give me some legal direction on this crime. Money is not an issue, especially if someone can help me out. This is just my opinion but I really believe that this case is a lot bigger than Erin Andrews's case mainly because there are a lot of victims that have been blackmailed for the sole purpose of extorting money and this is done by Marriott employees, using Marriott equipments while working/living on Marriott property. I have extremely strong evidence to prove all my claims including but not limited to a secretly recorded conversation from a key Marriott employee asking for money in exchange for the compromising information not to become public. The hackers have used the nickname Foxy Sparkle with previous victims. This is very similar case to Ronald Oates.

Basic background:

Location: This Marriott is located in one of Caribbean islands in West Indies. Marriott also owns a building (compound A) right next door where they house foreign workers who come here to train the locals. Compound A has a lot of empty rooms which they rent out to students who come to the island to study. All utilities including the TV and high speed internet is connected to Marriott hotel next door. When you turn on the TV in compound A, it says "welcome to Marriott".

Victims: Young, MALE students. There are a couple of medical schools on this island and every four months about 1500 new students from U.S and Canada come here to start a new semester in the hopes of getting a residency spot back home.

How the crime is done: The Marriott IT employees monitor the internet usage of students and which adult websites they visit. When they have a lead, they first hack into the students email and if they found something, they go further by installing a malware into the victims computer to possibly extort more compromising content(i.e. pictures). The malware is installed through a fake update prompt for "YouTube Downloader" software.

What they do next: First they ask the victim himself to pay up or they will release the content. If he refuses, they will email the compromising content to his family and they threaten the family that they will continue with friends and relatives if they don't get paid. At the same time, to increase the pressure, they email the relatives and they tell them that they own very compromising information about the victim. This makes the victims relatives to call and ask what is going on. The IT also email the victim's parents couple of fake LinkedIn emails which contains the profile of the relatives that they intent to send the compromising content to.

They are extremely skilled at this. Even if they found the least amount of discriminating content, they will do their best to build on it by adding content from the previous victim, editing/using private pictures from others or even creating their own fake content in order to increase their leverage.

Effort to counter their attack: I have filed nine police reports with the local police station that is located across the Marriott; however I believe the officers are on this too because they write my report on a piece of scrap paper and they tell me to go home and not to talk to anyone. When I come back the next day, there is no evidence of me ever being in that police station. I actually started recording myself in order to prove that I have been filing reports regarding this crime. I also filed to police report in my state but I was told that the police have no jurisdiction over this crime.

I tried to contact couple of attorneys on the island; however even though there are many attorneys there, not many of them practice criminal litigation.

I even sent a letter along with some preliminary evidence to the hotel using a certified mail. Even though the front desk employee signed for the package(I have proof), it never got to the management because I got a threatening email from the hacker describing what was written in the letter and that there is going to be a major consequence if I try to contact them again.

Can you please help me with these questions?

#1)What is the jurisdiction to file a defamation lawsuit in this case? This crime is being done my Marriott employees in the Caribbean so the case is going to be against Marriot Int.; however, ALL the victims are spread across the U.S or Canada. There are other lawsuits against this Marriott(i.e. slip and fall) and they are being filed in U.S states. There are 3 IT employees that are behind this. Two of them are locals and one is a white guy that lives in one of the rooms in the hotel. The spouses of two of the IT work in compound A as a manager and maintenance coordinator.

#2)How can you ask the judge to make this case sealed? I think this is one of those rare cases and the victims have the absolute right to privacy.

#3)What type of attorney accepts cases like this? If know someone, can you please refer me to them?

I really appreciate anyone help. Filing a lawsuit is the only way to stop the harassment. I am working with a local news paper and they have already published an indirect article on their website about the extortion ring that exists on this island in order to inform other victims that they are not alone. Upper management has no idea that this is happening but for some reason a lot of locals know about this crime. I am open to anyone suggestion.

 

[army judge]

Don't patronize or frequent PORN sites, and you won't end up being extorted.

I'm sure there are many great lawyers in Iran, or the little rock in the Caribbean where this alleged to have occurred.

By the way, ANYONE not just a business' IT employees, can collect information from almost any user.

Hotel wifi sites are normally operated by contracted providers, not employed by the hotel.

That is why you are having difficulty locating the alleged culprits.

No one can prove YOU used the device to access ANY site.

What someone can assert is that a certain device accessed a site.

No one can say who was sitting at the keyboard.

Additionally, device IDS can be spoofed.

If someone accuses you, you don't need to respond or defend.

Your best bet would be to ignore.

The more you chatter about this, the more people will disbelieve you.

If you destroy the devices (alleged to have been used to troll porn sites) there'll be no proof, just a ghost echo of some device ID (device identification) once associated with a smart phone or similar electronic device. They might also have a hardware serial number of the device that was smashed AKA "Hillary Clinton" style.

A client once described to me that the ocean is a great resting (and rusting) place for troublesome devices.

He said someone went about two miles offshore and somehow devices JUMPED overboard.

However, you're trying to TROLL us from Iran, mate.

You'd be surprised what crumbs a person drops when visiting any internet address.

IP: 178.173.192.48
Decimal: 2997731376
Hostname: 178.173.192.48
ASN: 1756
ISP: Shiraz Hamyar Co.
Organization: Shiraz Hamyar Co.
Continent: Asia
Country: Iran
State/Region: Fars
City: Shiraz
Latitude: 29.6036 (29° 36′ 12.96″ N)
Longitude: 52.5388 (52° 32′ 19.68″ E)

I suspect when the Ayatollah and his morality police discover your shenanigans (and they will) you'll have bigger worries than some alleged Marriott employees on some squalid, little rock in the Caribbean.

 

[ElleMD]

Apart from the above, this would be subject to the laws of the island nation where this occurred. The facts that the victims might be citizens of some other country does not grant jurisdiction to the country of citizenship.

 

[zddoodah]

I tried to contact couple of attorneys on the island; however even though there are many attorneys there, not many of them practice criminal litigation.

No such thing as "criminal litigation." "Litigation" is a term typically associated with civil lawsuits; it is not a term typically associated with criminal prosecutions. Moreover, crimes are prosecuted in the name of the sovereign, so the only person who needs an attorney is the defendant.

Can you please help me with these questions?

For starters, let's be clear about who you are. I assume you're a medical student from the U.S. or Canada who stayed in this property and accessed porn using the landlord's network. Correct?

What is the jurisdiction to file a defamation lawsuit in this case?

Nothing in your post suggests any defamation occurred. However, if it did occur, it apparently occurred in the unidentified country where you accessed the porn (although that's not completely clear).

This crime is being done my Marriott employees in the Caribbean so the case is going to be against Marriot Int.

Employers are not typically vicariously liable for crimes committed by their employees.

How can you ask the judge to make this case sealed?

Depends on the laws of the jurisdiction in which the lawsuit is filed.

I think this is one of those rare cases and the victims have the absolute right to privacy.

That would be absolutely wrong in the state where I live and practice.

What type of attorney accepts cases like this?

A civil litigator.

 

[Foxy Sparkle]

Hi ElleMD,
Thank you for your response.
I just want to point out that this crime is being done by "Marriott employees, using Marriott equipment while working/living on Marriott property". The employees coordinate with each other in order to trap the victim.
This is a full size Marriott hotel and there have been other cases against this hotel(i.e slip and fall, employment,etc) which was based on the misconduct of the employees of this Marriott. ALL BUT ONE of these cases have been filed in U.S states. I personally believe that since this case is going to be against Marriott Int., then it can be tired where Marriott carries a lot of its business and where most of the victims live. There was a similar case with the bombing of Marriott in Pakistan and the victims filed the lawsuit inside U.S.
To the best of my knowledge, there is a 24hr IT team on site to ensure that the internet is running smoothly to this Marriott and other properties around. The IT along with their spouses in compound A coordinate heavily with each other and I have extremely strong evidence to prove this.
I only suggested defamation since I thought it was the right charge but I am open to suggestion from the experts. The point of filing a lawsuit is that other victims will know what institution is behind this crime and that they are NOT the only victim.

 

[zddoodah]

This is a full size Marriott hotel and there have been other cases against this hotel(i.e slip and fall, employment,etc) which was based on the misconduct of the employees of this Marriott. ALL BUT ONE of these cases have been filed in U.S states. I personally believe that since this case is going to be against Marriott Int., then it can be tired where Marriott carries a lot of its business and where most of the victims live. There was a similar case with the bombing of Marriott in Pakistan and the victims filed the lawsuit inside U.S.

There is a huge difference between negligence (e.g., slip and fall) and intentional torts (which is what you're describing). As I told you in my prior response, employers are not typically liable for their employees' criminal activities (or intentional torts). On the other hand, employers are vicariously liable for their employees' negligence that occurred in the course and scope of employment. That's why slip and fall cases (as well as the Pakistan bombing case you mentioned) can proceed. Additionally, the court's opinion allowing the Pakistan bombing case to proceed in the U.S. was based in large part on the 4th Circuit's opinion that "It would be a perversion of justice to force a widow and her children to place themselves in the same risk-laden situation that led to the death of a family member." No such concerns exist in the situation you describe.

All that said, there is no question that the hotel chain you have mentioned is subject to personal jurisdiction in pretty much every U.S. state, so if you want to file a lawsuit about this, maybe you'll find a lawyer willing to take on your case and a court that doesn't give a rip about the doctrine of forum non conveniens. Keep in mind, though, that conducting discovery and actually trying the case will be massively expensive, and I doubt any lawyer will be willing to front the tens of thousands of dollars in costs that will be needed.

The point of filing a lawsuit is that other victims will know what institution is behind this crime and that they are NOT the only victim.

And how do you suppose the "other victims" (most of whom presumably won't be residents of the state where you file) will know about your lawsuit -- especially if they're still living in the Caribbean country where this stuff is alleged to have occurred?

 

[Foxy Sparkle]

Hi Zddoodah,

Thank you for your post. I didn't give enough details about the scope of this crime In order to protect the privacy of the victims but this is far bigger case than the people are referring to in this thread. I am obviously not blaming anyone for this because you haven't given all the information but trust me that if this gets out, it will very easily get on CNN. I have no evidence to prove this but I won't be surprise one bit if some of the victims may have committed suicide over this. This organized crime has been going for many years and tens of thousands of extortion money have been paid to Marriott employees. I just thought a public forum is not the right place to discuss the details and the latter should be done with an attorney.

I personally don't agree that the employers are innocent here. They obviously created a workplace without any supervision where this kind of crime can happen for many years. Also, I have done incredible work to bring this to their attention in order for them to put a lid on this crime INTERNALLY; however they have been extremely resistant and may I say negligent. I have called Marriott customer service many times regarding this crime with no effect. I even went to the hotel itself and talked to the director. He wouldn't believe what I was saying and he didn't even look at the evidence. Also, because he didn't want the guests in the lobby to hear about their employee and blackmailing, he told me to leave the hotel and never return to the property. I can somewhat understand his reaction however my point is that I have done everything to bring this to the employers attention. In that certified packaged that I sent them, I wrote that I will even pay for Marriott attorney myself so I can show the evidence of what their employees are up to however, as I said, that certifies letter never got to the upper management.

As I said in my initial post, money is not an issue if someone can help me out. I am also not looking for a financial reward. I just don't want to be any future victims.

Filing a lawsuit will bring a lot of attention to this matter and even if the victims are no longer on the island, and they are most likely not, it will inform them that they are not the only victim. The hackers had operated in a very similar manner in the past so the way one victim was attacked will be very similar to the next victim. A lawsuit is the only way to stop the harassment.

I am open to anyone's suggestion.

 

[cbg]

No one is going to open your files and put their devices at risk.