The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) has received reports related to the fraudulent advertisement and selling of StealthGenie, a mobile device spyware application (“app”) that is alleged to illegally intercept wire and electronic communications made using mobile phones. The indictment and arrest of StealthGenie’s CEO for selling the spyware coincides with disabling the website hosting StealthGenie and its associated online portal.

What are mobile device spyware apps?

Mobile device spyware apps are developed for smart mobile phones and may allow a purchaser of the app to, amongst other things, surreptitiously monitor a phone user’s communications and whereabouts.

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The purchaser must generally have physical access to a target mobile phone to install a mobile device spyware app, which is usually downloaded to the phone. Each phone software platform, such as Apple Inc.’s (“Apple”) iOs (for iPhones) and Google Inc.’s (“Google”) Android, require specific steps to complete the installation process.

How does StealthGenie work?

The StealthGenie app works in so-called “stealth” mode and is undetectable by most individuals. It is advertised as being untraceable. According to the indictment, StealthGenie’s capabilities include the following:

• Call Recording: Records all incoming/outgoing voice calls or those specified by the purchaser of the app
• Call Interception: Allows the purchaser to intercept calls on the phone to be monitored while they take place, without the knowledge of the monitored smartphone user
• Recorded Surroundings: Allows the purchaser to call the phone and activate it at any time to monitor all surrounding conversations within a fifteen (15)-foot radius without the knowledge of the user
• Electronic Mail: Allows the purchaser to monitor the incoming and outgoing e-mail messages of user, read their saved drafts, and view attachments
• SMS: Allows the purchaser to monitor the user’s incoming and outgoing SMS messages
• Voicemail: Allows the purchaser to monitor the incoming voicemail messages
• Contacts: Allows the purchaser to monitor the entries in the user’s address book
• Photos: Allows the purchaser to monitor the photos on the user’s phone
• Videos: Allows the purchaser to monitor the videos on the user’s phone
• Appointments: Allows the purchaser to monitor the user’s calendar entries

The purchaser can review information transferred from the target mobile phone via an online portal. These intercepted communications are stored on the StealthGenie website. For example, a purchaser can log-in to the online portal to access information pulled from the user’s phone such as messages, e-mail, photos, and phone calls.

Can a person tell if a mobile device spyware app is on his or her phone?

Mobile device spyware apps are developed and advertised as being invisible to targets and act in an undetectable manner. For example, an app can be installed to look like another type of app or file, such as a digital photo application. Therefore, it will be difficult for the non-expert user to determine whether or not spyware is on his or her phone.

Certain companies market apps and other products that will scan a phone for malicious software. Private computer forensic companies can physically perform similar scans. Federal law enforcement is not in position to determine the effectiveness of products and services from individual private vendors or entities. If a user is concerned about the potential presence of a mobile device spyware app on their phone, the only way to ensure that any app is permanently removed from the phone is to perform a “factory reset,” as described immediately below.

How can a mobile device spyware app be removed?

If you believe your phone may contain a mobile device spyware app, the best option is to conduct a “factory reset” of the phone. When a reset takes place, the phone is restored to its original condition (i.e., the condition at the time of purchase).

Please be advised that this means any and all data and apps installed after purchase will be removed from the phone, including all stored information. Please make sure to back-up any data you want to save from your phone before conducting a factory reset. Please note that performing a factory reset of a phone will not delete any information that has already been already collected from the phone by the mobile device spyware app from a vendor’s website.

Apple has provided information concerning how to perform a factory reset of an iPhone running the latest version of their mobile device operating system at http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1414 . Because Google’s Android operating system is customizable by a phone manufacturer, please contact your phone’s manufacturer for instructions on how to factory reset your phone, or take it to the store from which you purchased the phone. Similar action should be taken to determine how to factory reset a non-iPhone or non-Android phone.

A federal grand jury charged a Grayson County, Kentucky, man with violating federal laws designed to protect children from sexual abuse as well as threatening/intimidating a witness. The grand jury also charged several other school officials with failing to report the abuse, announced David J. Hale, United States Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky.

Stephen E. Miller, age 44, previously worked as a police officer in Leitchfield, Kentucky. He resigned the position following complaints of inappropriate sexual activity toward two women. Miller then began working at Bluegrass Challenge Academy, a residential, educational program run by the Kentucky National Guard, located on Fort Knox Military Base. Miller had supervisory authority over the Academy students. He is charged with engaging in sexual contact with three students, including an incident of aggravated sexual abuse with one of the three. The incidents occurred between February and August, 2013. The Indictment also charges Miller with attempting to threaten or intimidate the third student to prevent her from reporting the matter to law enforcement.

http://liarcatchers.com/pedophile_tracking.html

Additionally, the grand jury charged school officials, John W. Smith, Leroy Burgess, Jr., Kemmye S. Graves, Rolanshia Windom, Rita Carthen, and Gabriel Onusko with failing to report the first incident of abuse to law enforcement officials, as required by federal law.

If convicted, Miller faces a maximum sentence of life in prison, a fine of up to $1,250,000 and at least five years of supervised release. The remaining defendants, if convicted, face maximum sentences of one year in prison, a fine of up to $100,000 and up to one year of supervised release. Miller is being held in the custody of the United States Marshals Service.

Assistant United States Attorneys Jo E. Lawless and Stephanie Zimdahl are prosecuting the case. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) with assistance from the Army Criminal Investigation Division conducted the investigation.

A woman who was missing for several days was found locked in the trunk of a car in Louisville Monday afternoon.

Aundrea Stone’s pastor said she was supposed to pick up her daughter from class and never showed up on Friday. She was found in the trunk of a car Monday afternoon by a couple of women who were walking by the area where the car was parked.

The pastor said Stone doesn’t remember what happened. She was apparently hit in the head, and suffered some head trauma and a broken elbow.

http://liarcatchers.com/missing_persons_investigations.html

Tiasha Chaplin said she and a friend were on their way to pick up their children from school on Monday when they passed a parking lot near the corner of South Third and St. Catherine streets and heard a noise coming from a car.

“We was walking past the car and we heard a thump, thump, thump, and we thought it was a prank – somebody was pranking us,” Chaplin said.

The women called 911 and kept walking. On their way back, they said they heard the noise again as another passerby approached.

“I got scared. 911 still hadn’t arrived, so I ran across the street, got a brick, threw the brick through the passenger window,” Chaplin said.

They popped the trunk and found Stone inside, short of breath and injured, but coherent. EMS took her to the University of Louisville Hospital.

Police continue to investigate the incident.

This is the man authorities are looking for in connection with the disappearance of 49-year-old Beverly Carter out of Arkansas on the 25th. 31-year-old Aaron Lewis is wanted for a kidnapping warrant, and officials say he will have facial injuries received from a car accident today.
According to KTHV, deputies have not explained how the photo of Lewis’ bloodied face was obtained, however the photo was provided along with a copy of the warrant.

Pulaski County Sheriff’s Deputies say Lewis was a person of interest by the time he had reached Baptist Hospital for treatment, but he checked out before police could serve the warrant.

http://liarcatchers.com/missing_persons_investigations.html

KTHV reports that Carter was reported missing by her husband September 25 after she was supposed to meet an unknown person at a home on Old River Road in Scott to show a house around 5:30 p.m. After three and half hours of no contact, her husband went to the home and found his wife’s car with her purse and wallet inside, but she was nowhere to be found, and investigators have found no trace of a crime.

Police have not said if they have located Carter, or how they connected Lewis to her disappearance.

The violence continued in Lexington on Monday with the seventh shooting since Friday night. The the latest was around 4 p.m. on East Fifth Street near Ohio street. Police said an innocent bystander was shot in the leg on her front porch, in front of children.

Family said the victim is 62-year-old Marilyn Graves. Investigators said her injuries were not life threatening.

On Monday night police were still trying to find the people responsible, and said a teen who showed up hurt at a different hospital may be involved.

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“It is very scary because everybody knows this is a yard full of kids,” said Grave’s niece, Sarita Mays.

At the corner of East Fifth Street and Ohio Street, kids often play outside house. However, on Monday the sunny afternoon was shattered by gunfire.

“Cars just pulled up and started shooting at each other,” said Grave’s grandson.

“I guess as they were still shooting they shot my auntie on the porch, and my grand kids was all on the porch too huddled around her,” said Mays.

Police said the victim and the children were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. At around 4 p.m. officers said people in a red PT Cruiser and a black SUV, suddenly started firing at each other.

“Once I heard the shots everybody just ducked and ran,” said the victim’s grandson.

The kids were okay, but family said Graves wasn’t. “She was just holding her leg and I just seen blood, and she was saying she was hit,” said the grandson.

“I just broke down and just started crying,” added Mays. “I was praying that she was okay.”

Graves was taken to the hospital in non-life threatening condition. Afterwards police followed an oil leak from the PT-Cruiser and found it at Michigan and Charles. They said a bullet hit the engine and the vehicle was riddled with bullet holes.

While investigators didn’t find anyone inside the vehicle, they said a 17-year-old boy showed up to Good Samaritan Hospital with an injured hand shortly after the shooting. Investigators said he may be involved, and want to find all the people responsible.

“I hope that they find him, and they need to stop the violence,” said Mays.

That’s what this family is focusing on. Now as they heal, they hope this city does too. “It’s about life, not killing people … It does need to stop,” said Mays.

If you have seen the black SUV involved in this shooting you are asked to call Lexington Police or Crimestoppers.

Again, this was just the most recent violence in Lexington. Six other shootings were reported over the weekend.

On Friday night around eleven, police said a man was shot twice in the back, near a liquor store at Georgetown and Charles Avenue. That victim also reportedly had bullet holes in his car.

An hour before that on Friday, Police said a man was shot twice in the neck near Bainbridge Drive.

Early Saturday morning, a weapons violation was reported at Jazzy Bar and Grill on Old Georgetown Street. A victim said he was near that bar when he was shot after a fight.

Later on Saturday, officers said four or five shots were fired into a van near Green Acres Park, but luckily no one was hurt.

A man was grazed in the head with a bullet at a party at the Genesis Center on Georgetown Road on Saturday. Other people also reported damage to their cars from gunfire.

Finally, on Sunday, shots were reported near Douglass Park, however no victims were ever found.

A Louisville man was sentenced today to 156 months in federal prison for possessing crack cocaine in Northern Kentucky with the intent to distribute it.

U.S. District Judge Amul Thapar sentenced 58 year-old Edward L. Adams to 156 months in prison and placed him on supervised release for six years after he completes his prison term.

On December 18, 2013, Adams admitted to possessing almost 20 grams of crack cocaine at a hotel in Boone County with the intent to distribute it.

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Adams entered his guilty plea on June 19, 2014. Under federal law, he must serve at least 85 percent of his prison sentence. He is classified as a career offender under federal law because of two prior felony drug trafficking convictions. This classification enhanced his sentence.

Kerry B. Harvey, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, and Howard S. Marshall, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, jointly made the announcement after the sentencing.

The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation Safe Streets Task Force and the Northern Kentucky Drug Strike Force. The U.S. Attorney’s Office was represented in the case by Assistant U.S. Attorney Tony Bracke.

The search still on for a missing Edgefield woman.

It’s been exactly one week since Tammy Kingery went missing. Friends and family searched for hours to find their missing loved one.

“Today we’re looking for Tammy Kingery. She’s been missing for seven days now,” said Diane Cross with the CSRA Rescue Riders.

Nearly 100 people, covering almost 10 miles. Searching on foot and even on horseback for the 37-year-old mother of three.

“The family wants us to keep going. They miss her, and they don’t understand why she’s gone,” said Cross.

CSRA Rescue Riders did just that– come to the rescue. They help look for missing people and know how to search.

http://liarcatchers.com/missing_persons_investigations.html

“Tarps that have been moved or look like there’s been something underneath them. Leaves that have been piled up, abandoned homes or sheds, there’s so many possibilities where she might be hiding or who knows,” Cross said.

Park Kingery, Tammy’s husband, said last Saturday he left two of his three kids to go run errands. When he came back, the only sign of his wife was a note saying “Went for a walk, be back soon. Love you”

“Park had called me and let me know and I mean I thought she had just went out somewhere and maybe her phone died he just didn’t know where she was,” Colton Pearson said.

Seven days later, Colton Pearson never thought he’d be here searching for Tammy.

“She was a down to earth person. She always seemed happy,” said Pearson.

“I don’t know if she realizes how many people love her and how many friends she really has and everyone just wants her home and safe, especially the kids and me,” said Tammy’s husband Park Kingery.

“It’s been amazing to see everybody group together. I mean people we don’t know strangers coming out looking for her,” Pearson said.

There were no signs of Tammy, but also no signs of giving up hope.

Information about the whereabouts of Kingery can be forwarded to the Edgefield County Sheriff’s Office and SLED.

Tammy’s husband said his family is offering a $1,000 reward for any information that leads to finding Tammy Kingery.

A convicted felon wanted in Pennsylvania who was seen in Bowling Green last week has been caught in North Carolina.

The Bowling Green Daily News reports Chad Wilcox, who led Warren County officials on a chase last week before crashing and running off, was caught Sunday in North Carolina.

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Police said Wilcox was considered armed and dangerous and was wanted in Pennsylvania on a felony charge.

Police in Louisville have charged a driver in connection with a crash that killed three people Sunday evening.

Police say the Nathan Browning, 33, was speeding and ran a stop light at the intersection of Greenbelt Highway and Lower Hunters Trace in Pleasure Ridge Park. His Chevy Suburban slammed into a Ford Contour. All three people in the Ford were killed.

http://liarcatchers.com/wrongful_death.html

EMS took Browning to the the University of Louisville Hospital. He was treated and then arrested. Police charged him with three counts of manslaughter, four counts of wanton endangerment and one count of criminal mischief.

Officials have not released the names of those killed.

Marion County deputies are searching for a man accused of stabbing two people early Monday morning.

Officials say a woman with a stab wound showed up at the 911 dispatch center around 3:30 a.m. saying her and her boyfriend had been attacked at their home on Sulphur Springs Road.

Deputies say this wasn’t a random act of violence; the couple was allegedly stabbed by the woman’s ex-boyfriend. By the time deputies arrived to the scene, they say that man, 64-year-old William Ralph Newton had left.

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The woman’s boyfriend was flown to the University of Louisville Hospital with three stab wounds and in stable condition. The woman was treated on scene for one stab wound.

“The cops came in and told me this morning, about 5 o’clock this morning, there was blood all over and they were looking for somebody but I didn’t see nobody,” said neighbor Randy Vannice.

But deputies say they are still looking for William Newton. He is described as a white man about 5-foot-seven and 160 pounds. If you have any information, call the sheriff’s department.