Troll sent boss seven bullying emails a day for six weeks
A disgruntled employee used free online texting software that masked her identity so she could troll her boss so relentlessly she quit and framed a co-worker so he was sacked.
A disgruntled employee used free online texting software that masked her identity so she could troll her boss so relentlessly she quit and framed a co-worker so he was sacked.
Human Resources professional Emma Norman, 28, used SMS spoofing software to hound her ex-boss with fake texts and emails until the traumatised employer resigned.
“She was unable to deal with the quality and nature of the troll emails,” police facts state.
Her bamboozled co-worker, who spiralled into a deep depression, was wrongfully fired for misconduct.
Police withdrew the charge of using a carriage service to menace/harass/offend.
The psychology graduate will be sentenced next month after pleading guilty on January 21 at Parramatta Local Court to stalking and intimidating.
Norman used the sophisticated technology to send seven bullying emails a day for six weeks until her boss resigned from South Western Sydney Primary Health Network in April 2017.
Australian Institute of Criminology calculates identity crime through software facilitating phone and online scamming cost victims $334,600,000 and companies $2 billion in lost revenue 2015-16.
SMS spoofing has become readily available in the last year with increasing numbers of websites offering free trials to legitimate businesses from hairdressers to dentists wanting to send appointment reminders or to advertise to clients.
“Many of these services are based overseas and police will not always have jurisdiction to request these services hand over data or co-operate with the investigation,” police said in court documents.
Companies can insert names and numbers from which messages are sent to text clients but criminals can hijack it to impersonate a person, company, or product to send mysterious messages that appear legitimate.
“It’s vicious, malicious and dangerous if it gets into the wrong hands, it has the potential to tear apart relationships and damage reputations,” said the institute’s principle criminologist, Russell Smith.
“SMS spoofing is part of a new range of scams emerging in Australia over the last year and it’s getting worse.
“Criminals now are using it to represent banks to scam people into handing over bank details and PINS.
“In advanced cases they can even hijack existing contacts in a phone.”
In a separate case Norman has now been accused of using the same technology to hammer more than 300 hate texts in three months to a new boss at a Sydney workers’ compensation consultancy.
Norman was arrested at her home last week and charged with using a carriage service to menace/harass/offend and using a carriage service to threaten serious harm.
But she’s since been slapped with four fresh menacing charges and the prosecution now wants to revoke her bail.
On Wednesday Sergeant Nathan Snelling told Penrith Local Court Norman, who lives with her mother in St Mary’s, posed an “unacceptable risk” to her former boss’s physical safety and mental health.
“The victim has been under intense emotional/psychological pressure from the text messages, fearing her own safety, the safety of her children and worrying that her business will suffer irreparable damage/financial loss,” police alleged in court documents.
She is accused of masterminding a meticulous campaign using the phone software to bombard her new boss and colleagues with texts that appeared to come from other employees at the workers’ compensation consultancy, including threatening to expose a fake affair involving her married employer.
She allegedly sent her then boss a text on January 9 that read: “Maybe I should come to your house and stab your kid. Which kid do you like the least?”
She allegedly fired off a text to a client that appeared to come from her boss’s mobile on January 15 saying: “Since the moment I met you, all I can think about is putting your d**k in my mouth … want to hook up sometime? This will benefit you (and your company).”
Another allegedly sent to company clients on January 23 read: “Please be advised you may need testing if you have been treated at (a physio used by the company) in the past 12 months as a physio has tested HIV positive.”
Police will claim Norman worked at her latest firm for nearly a year but the alleged fraudster became increasingly resentful when company owners went on holiday for six weeks when she launched her hate campaign and was eventually sacked on December 7.
In November she allegedly began using a free trial for SMS spoofing software with multiple SIM cards and texted the boss’ mobile using the number of another employee criticising a fellow staffer as “a dumbass”.
A tirade of other texts threatened to push her employer “to your limits so you … kill yourself” while on December 31 another message read: “My New Year’s resolution is to make your life hell and destroy your company.”
After Norman lost her job, she allegedly trolled the company again firing off texts to clients reading: “It is with sadness that I advise you (our company) will shut its doors on 1 February.
“Moving forward you can contact Recover (a rival firm) on 1300 550 276 for your workplace rehab needs.”
Police will allege Norman also sent a text in January from a former colleague’s mobile threatening to “fat shame” and cyber bully the boss’s 13-year-old daughter on social media.
Another allegedly disturbing message read: “Why aren’t there fly screens outside your home …? It makes it easier for me”.
The day before Norman was arrested last Thursday she allegedly warned her boss to “stay tuned” for a big surprise that is going to going to “rock u (sic) world”, adding she wished the woman’s house would burn down and her kids were kidnapped.
On Wednesday Magistrate Vivien Swain imposed more onerous bail conditions on Norman ahead of the prosecution’s detention application on Friday, including daily police reporting and a ban on internet use.
She is now banned from contacting her old boss, her husband and three other complainants, and from going within 500 metres of their work or homes or entering the entire suburb of Chatswood.
“Many of these services are based overseas and police will not always have jurisdiction to request these services hand over data or co-operate with the investigation,” police said in court documents.
Police said Norman scheduled offensive texts to be sent at future times and dates and also sent offensive messages to herself to put bosses off the scent.
But once her employers contacted North Shore police in December investigators launched a secret operation monitoring her movements and allegedly traced back the fake messages through account records thanks to an American-based telecommunications company.
Scammers may pretend to be from a government agency, a well-known company like an energy or telecommunications provider, Australia Post, a bank or police. Their aim is to scare you into parting with your money or personal information and if you don’t, they threaten you with fines, disconnecting your internet, taking you to court, arrest or even deportation.
Tips to protect yourself
- If you’re contacted unexpectedly and threatened by someone who says they’re from a government agency or trusted business, always consider the possibility that it may be a scam – then stop and check if it’s for real.
- Don’t be pressured by a threatening caller and don’t respond to threatening emails or voicemail messages asking you to call someone back. If you do, the scammers may increase their intimidation and attempts to get your money.
- If you’re unsure whether a call or email is genuine, verify the identity of the contact through an independent source, such as a phone book or online search, then get in touch with them to ask if they contacted you. Don’t use the contact details provided by the caller or in the message they sent to you.
- If you’re still unsure, speak to a family member or friend about what’s happened.
- Never give money, bank account or credit card details or other personal information to anyone you don’t know or trust – and never by email or over the phone.
- A government agency or trusted business will never ask you to pay by unusual methods such as with gift or store cards, iTunes cards, wire transfers or bitcoin.
- Don’t open suspicious texts, pop-up windows or emails and don’t click on links or open attachments – just delete them.
- Never give anyone remote access to your computer if you’re contacted out of the blue – whether through a phone call, pop up window or email – and even if they claim to be from a well-known company like Telstra.
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