Threatening emails telling voters to vote for Trump target (Florida) Brevard County residents

[sabra]

Source: Florida Today

Voters across Brevard County Tuesday afternoon received threatening emails purporting to come from the Proud Boys, a far-right group that espouses militant authoritarian ideology, telling them to vote for President Trump, or else.

The emails appear to follow a similar format, and come from the email address "[e-mail]."

"Hi (name) We are in possession of all your information You are currently registered as a Democrat and we know this because we have gained access into the entire voting infrastructure. You will vote for Trump on Election Day or we will come after you. Change your party affiliation to Republican to let us know you received our message and will comply. We will know which candidate you voted for. I would take this seriously if I were you. (Voter's address)," it reads.

Donald Schwinn, 85, a snowbird registered to vote in Melbourne Beach, received one, telling FLORIDA TODAY "they're trying to scare people into voting for Trump."



Read more: https://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/2020/10/20/brevard-voters-threatened-emails-purportedly-proud-boys/5997458002/

[DBoon]

1. It is not hard to find the source of emails

and if the source is within the US, to track down who is sending them.

Someone needs to be charged with multiple felonies quickly.

[soothsayer]

3. Yes, very quickly

[regnaD kciN]

5. Not necessarily...

It's pretty easy to spoof e-mail addresses. I get dozens of scam e-mails supposedly from my own e-mail address (which supposedly "proves" that they have gained access to my own computer). It's a very old con.

[Mike 03]

7. I get those too.

Could an agency like the FBI find some of the more technical information, like the IP address? Or the ISP?

Maybe they are being sent by a foreign actor.

[TwilightZone]

6. Unfortunately, that's not true.

E-mails and IP addresses can be easily spoofed. Ransomware groups do it all the time. This even sounds like a ransomware demand.

[CloudWatcher]

19. Hidden headers in email

Someone experienced with reading all the (normally hidden) header lines in emails can quickly figure out what internet address was used to when transmitting an email.

But spam like this is normally sent from a machine that has been taken over by rogue actors ... i.e. a bot. And often VPNs are involved to further hide the originating system.

So tracing an email back to the actual sender is often quite involved and often impossible.

[SCantiGOP]

21. They can find it

Anyone who sends a message threatening to harm the President is quickly located and arrested.

[regnaD kciN]

2. There is no "officialproudboys.com" domain...

The assholes who sent this are domestic terrorists, but this about the same level as people insisting that there really is an "Antifa organization" and that they have a list of "law-enforcement-supporting businesses" to torch.

[Mike 03]

4. Yes, I did a search on that email address and nothing.

I wonder if a foreign actor is behind these. The email isn't exactly well written.

We need to know how targeted these emails were. Did they actually only go to Democrats? Did the sender require access to hacked information to know the voter's information (email address) and any other personal information in the mailings.

[regnaD kciN]

10. It's about on the same level as...

..."Hello. We have bad news. We have taken access to your computer. Don't believe us? Look for proof: this e-mail is coming from your own account. You can change password at any time, but it will not do good because our bot will record it. We have taken all your contacts and guess what? We have also access to your webcam and microphone, and have recorded you MASTURBATING. Send $38,000 in bitcoin to (insert address here) or we will share it with everyone of your contacts. We have recorded when you opened this e-mail, and you have 24 hours. Have a nice day."

I get literally dozens of these a month. I only wish there was a valid address to reply to, so I could inform these brainiacs that they're sending this to someone who doesn't even own a webcam.

[TwilightZone]

8. Not necessarily domestic.

Could also be Trump's pals in Russia or other countries where ransomware, etc., originate.

[whopis01]

13. It existed until Monday, October 19th, when it was changed.

Here is a wayback machine link from October 11th:
(This is a wayback machine archive of a proud boys website)
https://web.archive.org/web/20201011025555/https://officialproudboys.com/

On the page then they were talking about migrating to a new webhost by October 18th.

Looks like their previous host dropped them:
https://www.thewrap.com/proud-boys-website-online-store-dropped-by-web-host/

[Auggie]

20. This needs a link warning (takes you to a proud boys site)

I don't want their fucking cookies on my computer or history in my browser

[whopis01]

32. It doesn't actually take you to their site

It takes you to the wayback machine site. It never actually hits any server ever operated by the proud boys.

[Mike 03]

9. I seriously doubt the Proud Boys are even behind this.

This is so awkwardly written:

"Hi (name) We are in possession of all your information You are currently registered as a Democrat and we know this because we have gained access into the entire voting infrastructure. You will vote for Trump on Election Day or we will come after you. Change your party affiliation to Republican to let us know you received our message and will comply. We will know which candidate you voted for. I would take this seriously if I were you. (Voter's address)," it reads.

Is Brevard one of the Florida counties Russia penetrated in 2016?

One thing we've learned, and it's discussed in Peter Strzok's book, is that Russia had some cyberattacks "ready to go" that they did not use, and that our Intel people are still worried about them.

[TwilightZone]

11. Agreed. It's basically a ransomware template, adapted to voting.

Lots of ransomware originates in Russia, of course.

[Silver Gaia]

14. I honestly see no reason to believe that something from these cretins would be well-written,

however, it smells more like like a Russian op to me.

It seems to me that Proud Boys would get little satisfaction from this. They crave the appearance of threat and the reaction to it in physical form. Ya know? Like marching around with weapons and actually seeing fear (they think). This seems not their style.

[BBG]

18. Estonian is being reported in another thread

Nt

[COL Mustard]

28. Voting Records Are Public Information

In most states, anyway. Of course they (or anyone who knows what to look for) can access the "entire voting infrastructure".

[AlexSFCA]

29. russia stole info from voter registration databases

to weaponize it like this.

[bucolic_frolic]

15. Basically "Do me a favor or else, though."

[Mr.Bill]

16. There is no way,

repeat NO WAY that anyone can find out who or what you voted for, unless you tell them. And even then, they can't find out if you are telling the truth or not.

And sending that email is a federal felony.

[paleotn]

17. This!

Ballots, whether paper or electronic, cannot be linked to individual voters. The only thing anyone could ever find from hacking election records is if you voted or not. And even that might be difficult depending on the jurisdiction.

[Hip2bSquare]

22. But BLM and Antifa are the ones to be afraid of right?

The magat campaign can't even get their fear mongering message right. Wasn't it Antifa and BLM that the suburbanites had to be afraid of?

How scary for those people to have to read that email and wonder who it could be from and if they need to take it seriously. And, do those damn fools seriously think that scare tactic will work? We have some tough feisty seniors in our country...I can only see this backfiring.

[The_REAL_Ecumenist]

23. How the heezy would they, (who EVAH TF they are), be able to find out how ANYONE voted...

OR which party they're affiliated with? We have a COMPLETELY private & confidential voting system for a reason & EVEN IF they were able to find out how & WHO one voted for, WTF could they ACTUALLY do to that person AND while I'm on the subject, WTF do they think they could do and walk away in the same condition they'd came to they folks they're threatening, IF they COULD walk? These geniuses seem to believe they're invincible & NOT subject to the effects of handcuffs, bullets, pepper spray, rubber bullets, police dogs, sticks bats &/or knives?
I mean REALLY? Who TF would believe these pieces of Cyber$h!t? See, I'M NOT THE ONE & neither are MY EXTENDED FAMILY who live in FL! This sounds like a broke ass bluff, which I would IMMEDIATELY call & send a response politely informing them that I would be waiting for them with a lil' something. It would end with :"...& IF you feel particularly lucky or suicidal, (your choice), just show up and see what happens... "
Hugs & Kisses...

PS: One last thing, my new fat, $hitty "friend", (w/the $htt!est combover in this arm of the Milkyway galaxy...Donnie, is this you? You Ratchet & BE-ROKE bastid), please, oh please don't let my proudly clear title of LIBERAL fool ya...We may hug trees, kiss babies, give a rusty F about the Climate, other people AND the planet but we're NOT all pacifists. Just because we don't don't shout what we have or what we can do from the rooftops, DOES NOT EQUAL being frightened, scared, unable & unwilling to fight for the helpless, the innocent, the vulnerable, poor, disabled, mentally ill, homeless, vets, basically humanity in general, does NOT mean we WON'T fight for what is right. DON'T TAKE MY KINDNESS FOR WEAKNESS...just sayin'

[Mr.Bill]

34. I can't speak for other states, but in California

the political party you are registered with is a matter of public record. It's actually posted at polling places on election day and can also be found by other means.

[The_REAL_Ecumenist]

36. I'm here in California, (NATIVE) & although HERE it may be a matter of pubic record....

HOW THE HELL is ANYONE GOING TO FIND OUT WHO I've voted for? As I said, this sounds like a RATCHET, CRAZY RIDICULOUSLY nonsensical toothless bluff, smelling of the sweat of desperation. Please oh please threaten me like this...TRUST ME, it WOULD NOT end well.. for them. Threatening or blackmailing me would be a HORRIBLY bad idea... And OH YEAH, hello from the NorCal, neighbor!

[Mr.Bill]

38. You are correct,

no one can find out how you voted.

[Sherman A1]

24. This should be reported to both local and Federal

authorities. The source of the email can be tracked and hopefully this/these individuals will be able to explain their actions to a judge.

[PennyK]

25. Oh dear. I already voted!

Last edited Tue Oct 20, 2020, 09:47 PM - Edit history (1)

Now what do I do? Hahahahahahah! Brevard has some smartyass seniors!

Edited to add: I checked my email and I DID receive this message.

[niyad]

26. I would be tempted to reply, "listen you worthless, trump dick-sucking piece of shit, FUCK YOU"

Wanna bet mine is bigger than yours (and I do mean ANYTHING of mine!)?

P. S. Thanks for providing your supposed email address. So helpful to the investigators." Enjoy prison.

[PurgedVoter]

27. Proud Boys probably are a Russian Op.

All part of the service. The Magnitsky Act needs to be broadened and given more teeth the moment patriotic Americans get back into power.

[turbinetree]

30. And from Bob Woodwards book.............

https://www.tampabay.com/florida-politics/buzz/2020/09/09/new-woodward-book-says-russians-hacked-elections-systems-in-st-lucie-washington-counties/

[Aussie105]

31. Ignore those!

I get a few saying my Bank of America account has been compromised, my Netflix and Amazon accounts are overdue, and my house will catch fire if I don't pay up.
(Made the last bit up.)

I'm not in America, I don't have any of those accounts, so these get a giggle and a fast delete.

But, if you get a political email that includes threats, please forward them to the FBI.

[Baked Potato]

33. All Your Votes are Belong to Us!

[rockfordfile]

35. That should be turned over to the FBI

[Sapient Donkey]

37. Looks like that domain once had a real websites on it

Had names of people associated with it too. Seems to go back to 2017 based on the registration. So, I'm going to assume that is truly associated with the so-called "proud boys". That being said, I feel like such an email from that domain is a bit on the nose. We would need to see the headers to determine if it actually came from them or not. It's not that I don't think there are some Proud Boys who would stoop to such levels, but rather that I find it hard to believe anyone would be so stupid to use something that could easily be traced back to them. I'm sure the FBI will be have their experts working on this. If not, then maybe they can call up a Mac repair store owner for technical support.

[ffr]

39. "we will come after you," isn't to scare you. They're threatening to kill you.

"We will kill you. That's the Proud Boys in a nutshell."

Better wise up. Oh and they don't know how you will vote or if you'll even vote. They'll assume you did anyway, so you might as well be sure you vote for Biden so we can police them once again.