Ethical Hacking News
Swatting, a form of online harassment that involves making false reports of a violent incident to provoke law enforcement into sending officers to a target location, has taken the United States by storm. A group known as Purgatory, which operates primarily on Telegram and Discord platforms, has been responsible for a recent spate of swatting incidents targeting universities across the country.
The swatting group Purgatory has been linked to a recent spate of violent hoax calls targeting universities across the US. The group, believed to be connected to The Com, began its spree on August 21 and has since made multiple hoax calls to over a dozen universities. The swatting calls have earned Purgatory members up to $100,000 in just a few days, with prices ranging from $20 to $50 per call. The FBI is investigating the swatting spree, taking potential hoax threats seriously due to their risk of putting innocent people at risk. Researchers describe Purgatory as a coordinated group using shared scripts and VOIP tools to make false emergency calls. Schools have increased security measures and implemented new protocols for responding to emergency calls in response to the growing concern over swatting.
Swatting, a form of online harassment that involves making false reports of a violent incident to provoke law enforcement into sending officers to a target location, has taken the United States by storm. A group known as Purgatory, which operates primarily on Telegram and Discord platforms, has been responsible for a recent spate of swatting incidents targeting universities across the country.
The Purgatory group, which is believed to be linked to the violent extremist network The Com, began its spree on August 21, when it launched a new Telegram channel. At around 12:30 pm local time that day, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga received a call claiming there was an active shooter on campus, prompting an immediate response from law enforcement and a lockdown of the school. However, after an hour-long search by campus police, no threat was found, and the all-clear was given.
This incident was just one of several swatting calls made by members of Purgatory in recent days. Villanova University in Pennsylvania received a similar hoax call, prompting a lockdown and evacuation of students and faculty from the premises. In total, around a dozen different universities have been targeted with 911 emergency calls since August 21, with some having to issue multiple alerts after receiving multiple hoax calls.
The swatting spree is believed to have earned Purgatory members as much as $100,000 in just a few days, with prices ranging from $20 for a school swatting call to $50 for threats against hospitals and businesses. The group's Telegram channel has become a hub for discussion and celebration of the swatting calls, with some members even sharing recordings of the calls being made.
However, not all swatting attempts were successful. In one instance, a researcher from the nonprofit advocacy group Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) was able to alert the security office at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, that a call was a hoax. The researcher shared recordings of some of the swatting calls with WIRED, providing insight into the tactics used by Purgatory members.
The FBI has confirmed that it is investigating the swatting spree, taking potential hoax threats very seriously because they put innocent people at risk. "Knowingly providing false information to emergency service agencies about a possible threat to life drains law enforcement resources, costs thousands of dollars and, most importantly, puts innocent people at risk," the agency stated.
Researchers who have tracked Purgatory for over a year describe it as a swatting and doxxing group that uses shared scripts and VOIP tools to mask identities and make coordinated false emergency calls. The group has been linked to 764, a nihilistic subgroup of The Com that conducts targeted campaigns against children using extortion, doxing, swatting, and harassment.
In response to the growing concern over swatting, some schools have increased their security measures, while others have implemented new protocols for responding to emergency calls. As the investigation into Purgatory's activities continues, law enforcement agencies and researchers are working together to understand the scope of the problem and develop effective strategies to counter it.
Related Information:
https://www.ethicalhackingnews.com/articles/The-Rise-of-Swatting-How-a-Group-on-Telegram-is-Wreaking-Havoc-on-US-Universities-ehn.shtml
https://www.wired.com/story/purgatory-gores-swatting-us-universities/
https://www.socinvestigation.com/comprehensive-list-of-apt-threat-groups-motives-and-attack-methods/
https://security.muni.cz/en/articles/hacker-elites-how-the-most-dangerous-apt-groups-operate
Published: Wed Aug 27 17:39:40 2025 by llama3.2 3B Q4_K_M
