Luis Mijangos Accused of Hacking Into Hundreds of Computers and Demanding Sex Videos or He'd Spill Females' Personal Info

• CLICK HERE FOR UPDATE ON LUIS MIJANGOS PLEADING GUILTY TO TWO FEDERAL CHARGES

After a six-month FBI investigation into his alleged hacking, a 31-year-old Santa Ana man was arrested today on federal extortion charges that he hacked
into dozens of computers, obtained personal data about people using the
computers, and then demanded sexually explicit videos from girls and women in exchange for keeping their personal information private.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles details its case against Luis Mijangos, who allegedly infected more than 100 computers that
were used by approximately 230 individuals, after the jump . . .
]

June 22, 2010

Orange
County Man Suspected of Hacking Computers Arrested on Federal Charges
Related to Demands for Sexually Explicit Videos from Women and Teenage
Girls

LOS ANGELES–A man who claims to be affiliated
with an underground gang of hackers was arrested today on federal
extortion charges that allege he hacked into dozens of computers,
obtained personal data about people using the computers, and then
demanded sexually explicit videos from female victims in exchange for
keeping their personal information private.

Luis Mijangos, 31, of Santa Ana, California,
was arrested without incident at his residence by special agents with
the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The arrest of Mijangos, which was pursuant to
a criminal complaint filed last week in United States District Court,
follows a six-month FBI investigation into his involvement in computer
hacking, identity theft, and video voyeurism. FBI computer forensics
experts have determined Mijangos infected more than 100 computers that
were used by approximately 230 individuals, at least 44 of whom were
juveniles.

The federal investigation into Mijangos
resulted from a referral from the Glendale Police Department, which
received a complaint from a victim and realized the matter involved a
number of victims and may be the work of a sophisticated computer
hacker.

“This case is another example of local police
and FBI agents collaborating to solve a crime,” said FBI Assistant
Director in Charge, Steven M. Martinez. “The investigation leading to
the extensive network of victims in this case and culminating with
today's arrest of Mr. Mijangos would not have been possible without
information provided by the Glendale Police Department, whose detectives
worked this investigation jointly with FBI agents. Mr. Mijangos is
alleged to have exploited new technology to exert control over young
women whom he extorted, and many who were unwitting victims.”

The affidavit in support of the complaint
outlines a series of schemes that all involve Mijangos using
peer-to-peer networks to infect computers around the world with
malicious computer code. Mijangos induced victims to download the
malware onto their computers by making the files appear to be popular
songs. After the victims downloaded the malware, Mijangos was able to
control their computers, allowing him to send instant messages
containing malware from those computers to other people in the victims'
address books. These later victims thought they were receiving messages
from friends or family members.

Mijangos infected victim computers for a
variety of purposes, according to the complaint, that outlines several
lines of criminal conduct.
[
Once he had control of a computer, Mijangos
searched for sexually explicit or intimate images and videos of women,
typically young women and girls in various states of undress or engaged
in sexual acts with their partners. Mijangos contacted the female
victims, informing them that he was in possession of intimate images and
videos and threatening to distribute those stolen images and videos to
every addressee in the victims' contact lists unless they made
additional videos for him. Mijangos also told his victims that, because
he controlled their computers, he would know if they attempted to
contact the authorities, and he threatened to retaliate against them by
releasing the images and videos if they called the police. According to
the affidavit, Mijangos told one victim that she did not want to “mess”
with a team of hackers.

Mijangos also installed a “keylogger” on
victims' computers that allowed him to record every key that was struck
on the keyboards of the infected computers. Because the users of those
compromised computers were unaware that their computers had been
infected, they continued to use their computers to engage in commercial
and social activities. Mijangos used the keylogger to steal credit card
numbers and personal identifying information that he used to engage in
identity theft and to purchase merchandise, the affidavit states.

Mijangos also used stolen usernames and
passwords to access victims' e-mail and social networking sites to
further his extortion scheme. After hacking e-mail accounts belonging to
victims' boyfriends, Mijangos contacted women and teenage girls and,
pretending to be their boyfriends, asked them to create pornographic
videos for him. Once he had those videos, Mijangos again contacted the
victims, this time using an alias, to demand more pornographic videos
under threats of distributing the videos previously sent to him.

With his control of the victims' computers
and all of their functions, Mijangos was able to remotely access
victims' webcams and to turn them on from time to time in an attempt to
catch the victims in intimate situations. Occasionally he was
successful.

During the execution of a search warrant at
his residence, Mijangos was interviewed by FBI agents. According to the
affidavit, Mijangos acknowledged that he hacked into computers, but
claimed that he did so at the request of boyfriends and husbands who
sought to determine whether the women were cheating on them. Mijangos
acknowledged that he asked for additional sexual videos but only to
determine whether the women would actually do it. Mijangos also admitted
his involvement with an international network of hackers and his
participation in credit card fraud.

Mijangos is expected to make his initial
court appearance this afternoon in United States District Court in
downtown Los Angeles.

The criminal complaint charges Mijangos with
extortion, a felony offense that carries a statutory maximum penalty of
two years in federal prison.

A criminal complaint contains allegations
that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to
be innocent until proven guilty.

This case was investigated by the Federal
Bureau of Investigation and the Glendale Police Department.