美国国家公共电台 NPR--Some use the hoax known as 'swatting' to spread misinformation on social media

Some use the hoax¹ known as 'swatting' to spread misinformation on social media

Transcript²

The trauma³ caused by hoax shooting calls is sometimes amplified⁴ by social media, as bad actors take advantage of the moment to spread misinformation.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

We have a story that begins with a man named Travis Rothweiler.

TRAVIS ROTHWEILER: I can remember being in a meeting. And in that meeting, I was told that there was a possible incident going on at Canyon⁵ Ridge⁶ High School.

INSKEEP: Which is in Twin Falls, Idaho, where Rothweiler is city manager.

ROTHWEILER: It was about 12 seconds later they told me that there was an active shooter, that there was one person down, that there were three people injured, and it was in a math class. I still get kind of a little emotional talking about it because when you start putting those things together, probably every parent can tell you what class and what period their kid is in. And I knew that at that point in time, my kid was in math class.

INSKEEP: Think about how that moment must have felt for Rothweiler and then imagine what he felt when he learned it was all a hoax. This was not an active shooter. Nobody was killed. Amid the real mass shootings in this country, people have been calling in fake ones. The practice is called swatting. It happens a lot. NPR's Jenna McLaughlin reports on who takes advantage of these incidents to push their own schemes.

JENNA MCLAUGHLIN, BYLINE⁷: Let's hear another person's account of that day in Twin Falls.

CRAIG STOTTS: You know, that day started off just like any other day. And by 9:47 in the morning, we received - our dispatch center received the call...

MCLAUGHLIN: Lieutenant⁸ Craig Stotts remembers the exact time he heard about the shooter at the local high school on February 22.

STOTTS: ...Reported that there were shots fired at Canyon Ridge High School and that one person, I believe, at that time was injured in a classroom.

MCLAUGHLIN: Within minutes, first responders descended⁹ on the scene - SWAT teams, ambulances, helicopters, local reporters, then a flood of panicked parents.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

STEVE KIRCH: Treasure Valley, eastern Idaho.

MCLAUGHLIN: Steve Kirch, a local reporter with TV station KMVT, recorded an interaction between parents and Lieutenant Craig Stotts.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: 'Cause I'm getting messages...

STOTTS: No, I don't think...

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: ...From my brother saying that there's...

MCLAUGHLIN: It's hard to make out, which almost perfectly¹⁰ represents the confusion and chaos¹¹ of the scene outside the school. But within an hour of the call, Stotts of the Twin Falls Police Department was feeling confident.

STOTTS: So we did, obviously, several different clearings, you know, the initial clear, and then went back and went through the entire school again and did a final third clear. And that was about 10:40 in the morning.

MCLAUGHLIN: There was no shooter. The call was a hoax.

STOTTS: So the call came in at 9:47. Everything was clear by 10:40.

MCLAUGHLIN: But something weird¹² was happening. Here's Steve Kirch, the local reporter.

KIRCH: And, you know, the police chief - and we had cellphone video of people basically calling the police chief a liar¹³.

MCLAUGHLIN: Calling the police chief a liar. The parents just wouldn't believe Lieutenant Stotts.

KIRCH: Saying, no, there's dead kids in there. There's three dead kids in there. My kid told me there's three dead kids in there. And the police chief's telling them, like, no, nobody is dead. And they're saying, you're lying to me, and wanting to check ambulances and saying, show me that there's not a dead body in there.

MCLAUGHLIN: In all the confusion, as the SWAT team swept the building, panicked students texted their parents thinking they heard gunshots. But something else stood out to everybody that day.

KIRCH: You know, and all this was fueled through social media.

JOSH PALMER: Social media was not our friend on that day. What we were seeing was a very - like, a targeted misinformation campaign to the city of Twin Falls.

MCLAUGHLIN: Within minutes of the hoax call, Josh Palmer says his team was taking down fake videos and links. He's the city's chief information officer.

PALMER: And initially¹⁴, it was videos of an individual who was talking about a shooting, that it occurred - had just occurred. And from the looks of the video, I mean, the background, it looked to be a rural area, but definitely not high-desert region where we're at.

MCLAUGHLIN: It was like whack-a-mole. The videos and posts were popping up as soon as Josh and his team hid them across most of the six Facebook pages his team runs for the city.

PALMER: You know, it just perpetuated¹⁵ a lot of that confusion and misinformation right at probably the worst possible time, as parents are coming to the school.

MCLAUGHLIN: All this got the attention of Mike Shirley (ph), a local Idahoan from neighboring town Kimberly. His wife used to be a dance coach at Canyon Ridge. From where she works at a nearby office, she watched the swarm¹⁶ of police and texted her husband.

MIKE SHIRLEY: So I'm at work, and she texted me, active shooter at Canyon Ridge. And naturally, you're like, oh, my heck. And you start, you know, immediately panicking, wanting to go see what updates there are...

MCLAUGHLIN: He went to Facebook, of course.

SHIRLEY: ...Just to check, you know, comments and searching. And it was shortly in where I see those, you know, those spam articles or links getting posted.

MCLAUGHLIN: Twin Falls is a close-knit conservative community that many residents described to me as idyllic¹⁷. The area is literally¹⁸ called Magic Valley. It's green and beautiful with trails and nature, the kind of place you almost don't want to tell too many people about so it doesn't get too crowded. The hoax calls have shaken the community deeply. In the past, in places like Twin Falls and others, some of these swatting calls have been teenagers looking to get out of exams. But it doesn't look like that's the case here. That mystery has led Mike Shirley and others to ask questions. And they noticed a pattern, the same one NPR has been documenting.

SHIRLEY: Another city about 30 miles from here - Burley is what it's called - their school also had the call, the hoax happen. And so I'm like, man, yeah, I really wonder if that is, you know, something that is connected. It just seems so off and odd.

MCLAUGHLIN: Mike Shirley's instincts were spot on. Burley was hit that same day. And on March 2, a whole new wave of calls came in all across the country - Highland¹⁹ Park High School in Topeka, Hastings Public School in Nebraska. In Lawrence, Kan., police officers shared dash and body cam videos of officers responding to the call about a shooting at Free State High School in real time on Facebook.

(SOUNDBITE OF FACEBOOK VIDEO)

UNIDENTIFIED DISPATCHER: Call-taker now advising the caller has hung up.

(SOUNDBITE OF POLICE SIRENS)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Inaudible).

MCLAUGHLIN: Right now, police departments aren't sharing recordings²⁰ from the recent wave of calls because they're officially part of an FBI investigation²¹. But in descriptions of the new calls, there are striking similarities to past incidents. Here's Lieutenant Craig Stotts.

STOTTS: Yes, there was an accent. Came on our non-emergency line.

MCLAUGHLIN: And in Burley, the caller is also described as having a foreign accent, gave specific information about a classroom and teacher that didn't actually exist. It was the same at Hastings High School in Nebraska, making the 911 dispatchers immediately suspicious. And in every case, social media spammers flock to local news and official town Facebook posts sharing sketchy²² links. It made Mike Shirley wonder if the whole thing was planned in advance.

SELENA LARSON: So in most cases, you go to the about page of a lot of these websites, and there's not any information there. There's no information about who works at them, who the journalists are, who owns the website or, you know, oftentimes, even where it's located.

MCLAUGHLIN: Selena Larson is an intelligence analyst²³ at the cybersecurity firm, Proofpoint. She took a look at some of the spammy links that were still up on posts about swatting calls in Canyon Ridge and elsewhere. Some were fake videos laced with malware. Others were fake news sites plastered with ads. It's unclear if the posts have any connection to the people making the calls. Larson said she didn't think so. These bad actors on the web follow all kinds of bad news. They look for people to prey²⁴ on. Though without more details, it's hard to know for sure. But either way, social media is wreaking²⁵ havoc²⁶ in these communities, giving opportunities to people who want to take advantage of the fear.

Meanwhile, local communities like Twin Falls are stuck, traumatized without answers about who made the swatting calls and, more importantly, why. With no clear connections to a financial scam, no extortion demands, no obvious benefit to be made, that remains²⁷ a perplexing, maddening, still-open question. But for Travis Rothweiler, the city manager of Twin Falls, the impact is clear.

ROTHWEILER: Well, people are using the term hoax. I'm going to say that it's an act of terrorism because the entire - in my opinion, the purpose is to elicit²⁸ fear.

MCLAUGHLIN: Maybe in the end, the fear is the point.

INSKEEP: We've been listening to NPR's Jenna McLaughlin, who's been investigating this practice of swatting and revealing today the additional practice of people following up on those hoaxes²⁹ with hoaxes of their own. Jenna, how big a problem is this?

MCLAUGHLIN: It's pretty massive. So through public records and open-source data, we can confidently say that even just in the past couple of months, there have been hundreds of schools targeted by these kinds of hoax calls. And as I started digging into the social media side of things, I saw a lot of the same profiles commenting with sketchy links and videos and trying to take advantage of the fear. So it really is definitely a pattern.

INSKEEP: OK. So the underlying³⁰ problem here, of course, is the swatting itself. Who's doing that?

MCLAUGHLIN: That is a huge mystery. You know, we have heard some of these recordings from earlier incidents, and the pattern matches up. You know, the dispatch center receives a call to their non-emergency line. They describe the person on the other end as a man with an accent. He talks about a bomb or a shooter, gives a fake name and location. Oftentimes, they're using an internet calling app, which helps them to disguise their location because it's not using phone lines. Our previous reporting traced these calls back to Ethiopia. FBI is not sharing new records on these recent calls, but the pattern keeps up. There was a man actually arrested recently out in Washington state who was using a similar calling app and voice-disguising technology, but he didn't appear to be targeting schools.

INSKEEP: So we've just got clues rather than an answer. What else have you learned?

MCLAUGHLIN: Yeah. So, you know, we don't have too much more. But what's crazy is that on the dark web, you can essentially³¹ pay people to make these kinds of swatting calls for you. I mentioned that man out in Washington who was recently arrested.

INSKEEP: Yeah.

MCLAUGHLIN: And, you know, as horrifying³² as it sounds, there is a community in dark parts of the internet that get a rise out of this, and they oftentimes livestream their calls. Social media is honestly just making it worse. This mystery is definitely something we plan to keep reporting on.

INSKEEP: NPR's Jenna McLaughlin. Thanks so much.

MCLAUGHLIN: Thank you.

(SOUNDBITE OF VENNA'S "SICILY' BOX (FEAT. YUSSEF DAYES, MARCO BERNARDIS AND ROCCO PALLADINO)")

1 hoax   

v.欺骗，哄骗，愚弄；n.愚弄人，恶作剧

参考例句：

• They were the victims of a cruel hoax.他们是一个残忍恶作剧的受害者。
• They hoax him out of his money.他们骗去他的钱。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 trauma   

n.外伤，精神创伤

参考例句：

• Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
• The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。

4 amplified   

放大，扩大( amplify的过去式和过去分词 )； 增强； 详述

参考例句：

• He amplified on his remarks with drawings and figures. 他用图表详细地解释了他的话。
• He amplified the whole course of the incident. 他详述了事件的全过程。

5 canyon   

n.峡谷，溪谷

参考例句：

• The Grand Canyon in the USA is 1900 metres deep.美国的大峡谷1900米深。
• The canyon is famous for producing echoes.这个峡谷以回声而闻名。

6 ridge   

n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭

参考例句：

• We clambered up the hillside to the ridge above.我们沿着山坡费力地爬上了山脊。
• The infantry were advancing to attack the ridge.步兵部队正在向前挺进攻打山脊。

7 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

8 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

9 descended   

a.为...后裔的，出身于...的

参考例句：

• A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
• The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。

10 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

11 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

12 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

13 liar   

n.说谎的人

参考例句：

• I know you for a thief and a liar!我算认识你了，一个又偷又骗的家伙！
• She was wrongly labelled a liar.她被错误地扣上说谎者的帽子。

14 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

15 perpetuated   

vt.使永存（perpetuate的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• This system perpetuated itself for several centuries. 这一制度维持了几个世纪。
• I never before saw smile caught like that, and perpetuated. 我从来没有看见过谁的笑容陷入这样的窘况，而且持续不变。 来自辞典例句

16 swarm   

n.(昆虫)等一大群；vi.成群飞舞；蜂拥而入

参考例句：

• There is a swarm of bees in the tree.这树上有一窝蜜蜂。
• A swarm of ants are moving busily.一群蚂蚁正在忙碌地搬家。

17 idyllic   

adj.质朴宜人的，田园风光的

参考例句：

• These scenes had an idyllic air.这种情景多少有点田园气氛。
• Many people living in big cities yearn for an idyllic country life.现在的很多都市人向往那种田园化的生活。

18 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

19 highland   

n.(pl.)高地，山地

参考例句：

• The highland game is part of Scotland's cultural heritage.苏格兰高地游戏是苏格兰文化遗产的一部分。
• The highland forests where few hunters venture have long been the bear's sanctuary.这片只有少数猎人涉险的高山森林，一直都是黑熊的避难所。

20 recordings   

n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片

参考例句：

• a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
• old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐

21 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

22 sketchy   

adj.写生的，写生风格的，概略的

参考例句：

• The material he supplied is too sketchy.他提供的材料过于简略。
• Details of what actually happened are still sketchy.对于已发生事实的详细情况知道的仍然有限。

23 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

24 prey   

n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨

参考例句：

• Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
• The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。

25 wreaking   

诉诸（武力），施行（暴力），发（脾气）( wreak的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Coal mining is a messy business, often wreaking terrible environmental damage nearby. 采矿是肮脏的行业，往往会严重破坏周边环境。
• The floods are wreaking havoc in low-lying areas. 洪水正在地势低洼地区肆虐。

26 havoc   

n.大破坏，浩劫，大混乱，大杂乱

参考例句：

• The earthquake wreaked havoc on the city.地震对这个城市造成了大破坏。
• This concentration of airborne firepower wrought havoc with the enemy forces.这次机载火力的集中攻击给敌军造成很大破坏。

27 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

28 elicit   

v.引出,抽出,引起

参考例句：

• It was designed to elicit the best thinking within the government. 机构的设置是为了在政府内部集思广益。
• Don't try to elicit business secrets from me. I won't tell you anything. 你休想从我这里套问出我们的商业机密, 我什么都不会告诉你的。

29 hoaxes   

n.恶作剧，戏弄( hoax的名词复数 )v.开玩笑骗某人，戏弄某人( hoax的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The disc jockey, a young separatist named Pierre Brassard, has made his name with such hoaxes. 这位名叫彼埃尔 - 布拉萨尔的音乐节目主持人，是一名年轻的分离主义者，以制造这类骗局闻名。 来自百科语句
• This chain-letter hoaxes, has mutated over the years. 这一骗局多年来在互联网上不断发展和变异。 来自互联网

30 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

31 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

32 horrifying   

a.令人震惊的，使人毛骨悚然的

参考例句：

• He went to great pains to show how horrifying the war was. 他极力指出战争是多么的恐怖。
• The possibility of war is too horrifying to contemplate. 战争的可能性太可怕了，真不堪细想。