A guest who appeared on he Without bridge podcast Idriss Qibaa, also known as “Dani” and “Unlocked,” who authorities say ran the social media hacking site Unlocked4Life.com, faces two felony charges filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Nevada for allegedly violating interstate communications laws for threats he issued in text messages to two victims and their family members, according to documents obtained by instagram-scam-no-jumper/” rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank” data-ylk=”slk:404 Media;cpos:2;pos:1;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas” class=”link “>404 Media.
Investigators filed the sealed complaint against Qibaa on July 25 and issued an arrest warrant the following Monday, when he also made his first initial court appearance, according to federal court records.
The criminal complaint states that the FBI received a tip about Qibaa's alleged extortion scheme on April 1 that pointed to an appearance he made on the Without bridge In January, on a podcast hosted by Adam22, also known as Adam Grandmaison, under his pseudonym “Dani,” Qibaa described a financial scheme that used the social media accounts of more than 200 victims, blocking them from accessing their pages and charging them to regain access.
He also boasted that he was making around $600,000 a month from his activities and hired two security guards to follow him around.
“You’re making $2 million a month from your instagram and Telegraph,” Qibaa says on the podcast. “I come and take it from you and make you pay for it, make it public, publish it and expose you.”
Qibaa even said in the podcast episode that he had dismantled the scheme against celebrities who unwittingly kept paying him to get their social media back. He later noted, “I’m so petty,” followed by a menacing laugh.
“I’ve talked to stars who have told me they’ve paid to get it back 20 times, over and over again, and they just have to keep paying to get it back,” Qibaa says, “and I’m like, ‘Do you realize what’s happening to you? The same thing that’s happening to you is that you’re being extorted. ’”
The criminal complaint tells the story of eight victims' encounters with Qibaa and its services. One of them, identified as “JT,” operated two instagram accounts: a cannabis news account called instagram.com/theblacklistxyz/?hl=en” rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank” data-ylk=”slk:“theblacklistxyz”;cpos:3;pos:1;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas” class=”link “>“lalistanegraxyz” and a cannabis merchandising store under instagram.com/caliplug/?hl=en” rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank” data-ylk=”slk:“caliplug,”;cpos:4;pos:1;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas” class=”link “>“caliplug,” Both are currently set to private. JT contacted Qibaa to ask if he could get a username. Qibaa offered him a price of between $4,000 and $5,000. JT refused to accept Qibaa's offer and Qibaa responded with threats.
“Qibba told JT that she had wasted Qibaa’s time, blocked JT’s instagram pages, and demanded $10,000 to reinstate her account,” the complaint reads. “JT offered Qibaa $8,500 to reinstate the account, an offer Qibaa accepted.”
The complaint states that Qibba contacted JT two more times. The first time, Qibba asked if JT would promote his instagram page under the username “unlocked4life,” which has since been deleted. JT agreed, but when he learned that Qibaa had been threatening and extorting other victims, he confronted Qibaa and “Qibaa became enraged.”
A few months later, Qibaa apparently increased the scope of his threats to JT and his family members. He sent threats to call the victim's ex-wife's lawyer and child protective services to take care of his children. Screenshots from the victims' phones show that Qibaa allegedly identified the address and phone number of the victim's sister. He texted another family member and introduced himself as “The guy who's going to kill your drug-dealing brother. Tell him Unlocked says hi. We have your entire family's info.”
Another victim identified as a journalist and comedian with the initials “EH” learned they were targeted by Qibaa’s illegal services. Qibaa locked their instagram account, whose name was censored, at the request of a dentist in California who treated them. EH contacted the Unlocked4Life account and received a response that read, “Hi, I’m Idriss.” He then told EH to look up the account. Without bridge Podcast episode featuring his interview. Not only did Qibaa remove the victim's instagram account access, but he also threatened to take away their Social Security number and “make it public” if they didn't pay him $20,000.
According to the complaint, not even restraining orders could get Qibaa to leave his victims alone. A user named “RB” received a restraining order from the Los Angeles County Superior Court in July, but “Unblocked” responded, “Nice restraining order… last time I checked, you’re still gonna die.” “UNLOCKED UNCENSORED” then posted on Telegram, “$50,000 reward for anyone who sleeps in BO this week.”
Perhaps the most disturbing threats were those received by several victims, in which Qibaa claimed he would happily go to jail if they didn't make payments to him. Screenshots of the text chains show a person named “Dani” and “Daniel” telling their victims, “I'll come and shoot you myself,” “I'm going to bury you for this shit,” and “D., L., J., T., Children-Main Targets” referring to the victims' children.
Another text string shows Qibaa allegedly threatening someone that he would “rather get life in prison for murdering you than for this,” “I don’t care if I have to shoot you myself (sic),” and “I’ll happily go to jail.” He follows the text with the threat “Here’s the last guy who came to take pictures/came up to my house” and sends three photos of an unidentified bearded man, his car, and a photo of him on the ground badly bruised and bloodied.”
Adam22 concluded his podcast interview with “Dani” by saying that he was “really excited to see the consequences of this” and “I respect the effort even if I can’t justify it on a moral level.”
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