Journalist Andy Lee extorted by hackers vowing to free her from 'Twitter jail'
Thousands in ransom paid after Twitter boots journalist off social media site
Calgary based independent journalist Andy Lee is out thousands of dollars in ‘ransom’ paid to hackers claiming to be Twitter insiders who promised to re-open her once popular account.
“I can’t take this anymore. My life is insane,” said Lee.
“This is an extortion ring. Who knows who’s behind this,” asked Lee who has been targeted more than ten times by those claiming to be able to unlock her Twitter account in exchange for cash and other payments.
“Yesterday it was, ‘pay me $600.00. Today it’s pay $380.00 USD. I sent them $380.00 and now, nothing. All I know is, I can log in (to Twitter) with this password they sent me but then my account is just frozen.”
Having spent several weeks negotiating with admitted ‘hackers’ vowing to reinstate her Twitter account, Lee says she’s at her wits’ end and is finally ready to call police.
“I think they do this a lot. It’s probably huge. I don’t know how these people got my number. Who has my number? Twitter has my number. All these strangers contacting me from all over the place. Is Twitter in on it or are they turning a blind eye to it?”
Despite two dozen attempts to contact Twitter management about the deplatforming and about the repeated requests for money from alleged company insiders, no one at the social media giant has responded to her about anything.
Adding to the frustration is the freezing of her bank accounts which Lee blames on those opposed to her coverage of the Freedom Convoy.
“There’s no doubt they froze my accounts because I was in Ottawa,” Lee said despite getting no information confirming her suspicions from either the bank nor the federal government.
The online extortion began the day her bank accounts were frozen, suggesting there may be some connection.
Meantime there are others being drawn into the online extortion attempts aimed at unlocking her Twitter account.
Lee says there are ‘tenders’ out on the ‘dark web’ as supporters of her work seek to pay large sums in order for Twitter to reinstate her account.
“They’re hitting up other people who want my account open. Someone contacted me to say they would pay $5000.00 to get it unlocked. I told them not to do it.”
Lee is upset at herself for giving money to hackers claiming they can help.
Out of frustration over her deplatforming, she has relented to online demands for cash and ‘Steam Cards’; a form of digital exchange and virtual rewards popularized by gamers.
“Do you want to know how they get paid? They get paid in bitcoin and gift cards,” said Lee holding up a large stack of cards representing payouts to scammers promising to help and delivering nothing but more demands for payment.
Dr. Jordan Peterson is among those blasting Twitter for its ban of Andy Lee calling the social media giant, ‘censorious bastards,’ and ‘sanctimonious weasels.’