An enterprising Air National Guardsman, Josiah Ernesto Garcia, realized he needed additional income to support his family. In mid-February, he began searching online for contract work where he could utilize his training and skill sets.
Finding a particularly interesting site looking for contractors, he submitted an employment inquiry indicating he was interested in the work and followed up on his initial request, and submitted other identification documents and a resume.
The website rentahitman [.] com was originally created in 2005 to advertise a cyber security startup company, the company failed and over the next decade, it received many inquiries about murder-for-hire services.
The website’s administrator converted the website to a parody site that contains false testimonials from those who have purported to use hitman services, and an intake form where people can request services. The website also has an option for someone to apply to work as a hired killer.
The FBI was notified of Josiah’s interested in picking up additional work as a hitman. An undercover agent began communicating with Garcia who subsequently agreed to kill an individual for $5,000.
Garcia met the undercover agent at a park where he was provided with a target packet for a fictional individual, which included photographs and other information about the individual to be killed, and a down payment of $2,500. After agreeing to the terms of the murder arrangement, Garcia asked the agent if he needed to provide a photograph of the dead body. At that point, Garcia was arrested by the Agents.
If convicted, Garcia faces up to 10 years in prison.
Takeaway:
Carefully research all job sites before posting
Note: The finale season of HBO’s Barry is now airing.
Source: Department of Justice
Would you like a free, no-obligation Cybersecurity Benchmarking of your organization showing where you stand vs. industry-accepted practices? Click here to schedule a time with one of our associates.