James Linton is a social engineer and email prankster known for duping high-profile celebrities and politicians. For five months in 2016 through to 2017, the "lazy anarchist"[1] known by the Twitter alias SINON_REBORN created over 150 look-alike email accounts and emailed high-profile individuals in the political, financial, and entertainment industries from his iPhone 7.[2]
James Linton | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | British |
| Other names | SINON_REBORN |
| Occupation | Email threat researcher |
| Known for | Email pranks |
Background edit
Linton is a former designer and front end web developer. He was suspended from his job when his bosses suspected he was emailing victims at work.[2] He lives in Manchester with his partner and three cats.[3]
His moniker SINON_REBORN comes from Sinon, the name of the Greek Soldier who persuades the Trojans to accept the Trojan Horse, basis of the eponymous computing trick he utilised.[4]
He revealed his identity to the media in September 2017 and later became a threat researcher and speaker for email security firm Agari.[5]
Prank spree edit
In May 2017, Linton began his spree with Jes Staley, CEO of Barclays as chairman John McFarlane, who he pranked with an acrostic alluding to whistleblower investigation.[6] Days later, he sent sexist remarks to Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England and an invitation to a fake soiree.[7] This led to a tightening of Barclay's email security procedures.[8][9]
In June, impersonating Jeremy Corbyn's press secretary, British politician Diane Abbott was tricked into commenting about her health.[10]
Shortly after, he tricked Lloyd Blankfein, CEO of Goldman Sachs into making a dig at president Trump, Citigroup banking chiefs Michael Corbat and Stephen Bird with links to his previous pranks then corresponded with James Gorman, CEO of Morgan Stanley.[11]
In late June, right-wing media personality Katie Hopkins, was tricked into joining a fictional TV show "Adders Basket" debating feminists, liberals and vegans.[5]
In August, he targeted the White House. Posing as Jared Kushner he tricked a senior cyber security advisor into his authenticity, taunted then media chief Anthony Scaramucci as ex chief of staff Reince Priebus just before he was fired,[12] invited US Homeland Security Advisor Tom Bossert to a soiree, and joked with Eric Trump about his dad's similarities to Putin.[13] Personal lawyer to Donald Trump Michael Cohen was persuaded to tweet a photograph with a hidden gif[2] and Jared Kushner's lawyer Abbe Lowell incorrectly forwarded a request from the senate intelligence committee asking about Kushner's undisclosed private email account to a fake account.[14] Lawyer Ty Cobb and press secretary Sarah Sanders corresponded, joking about droning journalist Natasha Bertrand.[15]
In early August, former UK Home Secretary Amber Rudd briefly corresponded from her personal address about upcoming announcements to a fake advisor account.[4][16]
Later in August, Breitbart editors Alex Marlow and Joel Pollak commented they would do Steve Bannon's 'dirty work' to fake a Steve Bannon account, ousting Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump and shared a personal smear about their private lives.[17]
In September, former United States Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick briefly fell for fake emails from her client Jared Kushner but didn't reveal anything confidential.[18]
In October, Linton posing as now disgraced Hollywood Producer Harvey Weinstein, confessing regrets for his actions to his former lawyers Lanny Davis and Lisa Bloom.[19]
Later in October, he targeted Shark Tank personality Robert Herjavec as the company CEO, inviting him to a toga party. Later the fake account was copied into official financial projection documents.[2]
In late October, UK National Cyber Security Centre technical director Dr Ian Levy was targeted with a fake industry event, however Levy correctly identified the unexpected link to mail.com.[4] Linton was then asked by Levy to co-write a blog about the experience.[20]
Linton's last prank was targeting conservative media pundit Ann Coulter, posing as Sheriff David Clarke persuading her to review an article about immigration.[21]
Other pranks edit
- Kevin Spacey, American actor, producer, and singer
- Alan Stewart, CFO Tesco as John Allan, CEO Tesco
- Dennis Muilenburg, CEO, Boeing as Ed Liddy, Board Member of Boeing
- Norman Tebbit, UK Politician as Boris Johnson, then Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. Fake Johnson told Tebbit to "go fuck yourself".[22]
- Jessica Shears, UK Love Island reality TV star
- James Woods Hollywood actor and producer
- Ezra Levant, CEO of Rebel Media
- Tucker Carlson and Brian Kilmeade of Fox News[23]
External links edit
- emailprankster.com - Personal site
References edit
- ^ Schlagenhauf, Wes (8 November 2017). "One of the best online pranksters of all time is hanging up his keyboard". The Hustle. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
- ^ a b c d Mac, Ryan (7 November 2017). "This Man Pranked Eric Trump And Harvey Weinstein — Now He Just Wants A Job". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
- ^ Jeffries, Adrianne (4 August 2017). "How to prank the rich and powerful without really trying". The Outline. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
- ^ a b c Stokel-Walker, Chris (28 September 2017). "Revealed: The real identity of prankster king SINON_REBORN". Wired. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
- ^ a b Scammell, Robert. "Linton Reborn How the Email Prankster Became a Cyber Crimefighter". verdict-encrypt. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
- ^ Treanor, Jill (12 May 2017). "Barclays boss Jes Staley fooled into email exchange with prankster". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
- ^ Allen, Katie (23 May 2017). "Bank of England governor falls for email prank but maintains his composure". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
- ^ Arnold, Martin (22 May 2017). "Barclays tightens email security after Jes Staley hoax". Financial Times. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
- ^ Martin, Ben (22 May 2017). "Barclays tightens email security to prevent hoaxes after boss fell for fake chairman prankster". The Telegraph. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
- ^ Hughes, Laura (6 June 2017). "Diane Abbott appears to fall victim to a hoax email conversation with online prankster". The Telegraph. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
- ^ "2017's Most Prolific Email Prankster is Calling It Quits". BuzzFeed News. 7 November 2017.
- ^ Booth, Robert (1 August 2017). "Prankster says he targeted Scaramucci over mental health insult". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
- ^ Tapper, Jake (1 August 2017). "White House officials tricked by email prankster". CNN. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
- ^ Farhi, Paul (28 September 2017). "Email hoax comes back to haunt Jared Kushner's attorney". The Washington Post. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
- ^ Bertrand, Natasha (7 September 2017). "Trump lawyer Ty Cobb, fooled by 'email prankster,' asks for 'drone' in private emails slamming reporter". Insider. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
- ^ Booth, Robert (9 August 2017). "Amber Rudd latest to fall victim to email hoaxer using fake account". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
- ^ Darcy, Oliver (22 August 2017). "Emails: Breitbart editor pledges to do 'dirty work' for Bannon, smears Ivanka". CNN. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
- ^ Rubino, Kathryn (5 October 2017). "It Happened AGAIN — Another Biglaw Partner Falls For Internet Prank". Above the Law. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
- ^ Digg Team (10 October 2017). "Email Prankster Strikes Again, Fooling Harvey Weinstein And His Legal Team". digg. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
- ^ Levy, Ian (30 October 2017). "The serious side of pranking". National Cyber Security Centre. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
- ^ Braue, David (20 September 2019). "If Scott Morrison emails you, check the header". Australian Computer Society. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
- ^ Gray, Jasmin (1 August 2017). "Anthony Scaramucci Sent Some Seriously Bizarre Emails To A Prankster Pretending To Be Reince Priebus". Huffington Post. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
- ^ "Email Prankster™". Retrieved 10 April 2020.