Karen Faye Pratt (fake identity using the photos of a famous model named Sara Ziff) uses social networking and other dating websites to trick and extort at least half a dozen men (there may be more cases coming out as we go forward with the case) into sending her and her accomplice ("Ai Tominaga" - also a fake identity) naked photos and videos of themselves. Some of the videos and photos were obtained by hacking into their victims' computers.
This scam was rather sophisticated and involved a great deal of emotional torture. "Karen" and "Ai" often used a third fake identity to let their victims believe that THEY were being stalked by a fictional character that never existed. This third fictional character (created by them) served as an independent tool to threaten their victims and would make these criminals appear like victims themselves since they also pretended to be terrorized by this third fictional character.
Using many different identities and websites over a period of at least ten years, these two individuals have cyber terrorized their victims by hacking into their computers, web cams and email accounts. They then threatened and blackmailed their victims if they didn't get more sensitive videos and photos. They would essentially threaten - through the third fictional character - to post the sensitive photos or videos of their victims or send them to their families, friends or co workers... or simply post them online. They often created fake online dating profiles of their victims, containing naked or sensitive photos they had acquired illegally. Whenever the victims shared their desire to go to the police or get legal advice, these criminals would say they had it under control and had already contacted the authorities, giving them more time to terrorize their victims further.
We believe this was done to later blackmail - for financial purposes and monetary gain. We also believe there might be an international cyber fraud ring behind these two individuals, perhaps involving identity fraud (two victims appear to have been victims of serious identity fraud). We also believe that this was a way to obtain free gifts (which Karen Faye Pratt received at an address in Hoffman estates, Illinois).
These criminals forged email headers in order to appear like they were really who they said they were. For example, if they said they worked for "Doughty Street Chambers" (the last job she pretended to have in London), she would forge the email address, making it appear like it came from an email address related to that law firm but an analysis of the email headers was very telling and revealed that the emails were redirected to a yahoo or gmail email address. Investigators have contacted "Doughty Street Chambers" and it was confirmed a person with that name never worked there.
These two criminals set up fake profiles on Facebook, Match.com and other social networking websites that appear to be from men and women in their mid to late twenties, sometimes early 30s. These criminals allegedly used the bogus profiles to communicate with real-life men and women, sometimes beginning online romantic relationships with the real-life men and women and then encouraging them to send them sexually explicit videos and photos of themselves.
On other occasions, these criminals threatened to harm the real-life victims or their loved ones unless they sent him naked images or money. In some cases, after receiving the images of the victims, these criminals would distribute those images, along with the victims’ names and personal information, to other members of their online social networking groups or to publicly accessible websites. In at least one case, these criminals gained access to a victim’s Facebook account and posted naked photos of him on a fake dating website profile. Once they had photos of a victim, they commonly used the threat of further harassment and distribution to extort more images.
Investigators believe these criminals have victimized several dozen men and women—many in NYC, London and Paris. Some are believed to be overseas—but authorities have not identified all of the victims. Anyone who believes they may have been a victim in this case should contact the FBI. If you are afraid for your safety, please post your experience with these criminals here and we will transfer it to investigators.
We have the address where these individuals have received gifts for Karen. Interestingly enough, "Karen Faye Pratt" was listed under that address online (on websites such as Radaris, Intelius, 10digits.us, whitepages). Things were also returned from that address almost a year later - with the warning from Karen Faye Pratt - so investigators know that these criminals either live there or know someone who lives there. You can simply do a search on www.pipl..com with the name "Karen Faye Pratt" and the location "Hoffman Estates, Illinois" and this will lead to the address and telephone number of these criminals OR of someone who knows them very well.
Karen Faye Pratt pretends to be from the UK and to be half Indian (she has an international accent with clear Indian intonations). Ai Tominaga is a man who pretends to be Japanese born in Brazil. He has a VERY thick accent and writes in a way that indicates he is clearly not English speaking. Karen writes very good english and pretends to have been to North Western University (investigators called the university and she has never attended).
A criminal complaint contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. It is important to say that every defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.
Karen F Pratt Reviews
Karen Faye Pratt (fake identity using the photos of a famous model named Sara Ziff) uses social networking and other dating websites to trick and extort at least half a dozen men (there may be more cases coming out as we go forward with the case) into sending her and her accomplice ("Ai Tominaga" - also a fake identity) naked photos and videos of themselves. Some of the videos and photos were obtained by hacking into their victims' computers.
This scam was rather sophisticated and involved a great deal of emotional torture. "Karen" and "Ai" often used a third fake identity to let their victims believe that THEY were being stalked by a fictional character that never existed. This third fictional character (created by them) served as an independent tool to threaten their victims and would make these criminals appear like victims themselves since they also pretended to be terrorized by this third fictional character.
Using many different identities and websites over a period of at least ten years, these two individuals have cyber terrorized their victims by hacking into their computers, web cams and email accounts. They then threatened and blackmailed their victims if they didn't get more sensitive videos and photos. They would essentially threaten - through the third fictional character - to post the sensitive photos or videos of their victims or send them to their families, friends or co workers... or simply post them online. They often created fake online dating profiles of their victims, containing naked or sensitive photos they had acquired illegally. Whenever the victims shared their desire to go to the police or get legal advice, these criminals would say they had it under control and had already contacted the authorities, giving them more time to terrorize their victims further.
We believe this was done to later blackmail - for financial purposes and monetary gain. We also believe there might be an international cyber fraud ring behind these two individuals, perhaps involving identity fraud (two victims appear to have been victims of serious identity fraud). We also believe that this was a way to obtain free gifts (which Karen Faye Pratt received at an address in Hoffman estates, Illinois).
These criminals forged email headers in order to appear like they were really who they said they were. For example, if they said they worked for "Doughty Street Chambers" (the last job she pretended to have in London), she would forge the email address, making it appear like it came from an email address related to that law firm but an analysis of the email headers was very telling and revealed that the emails were redirected to a yahoo or gmail email address. Investigators have contacted "Doughty Street Chambers" and it was confirmed a person with that name never worked there.
These two criminals set up fake profiles on Facebook, Match.com and other social networking websites that appear to be from men and women in their mid to late twenties, sometimes early 30s. These criminals allegedly used the bogus profiles to communicate with real-life men and women, sometimes beginning online romantic relationships with the real-life men and women and then encouraging them to send them sexually explicit videos and photos of themselves.
On other occasions, these criminals threatened to harm the real-life victims or their loved ones unless they sent him naked images or money. In some cases, after receiving the images of the victims, these criminals would distribute those images, along with the victims’ names and personal information, to other members of their online social networking groups or to publicly accessible websites. In at least one case, these criminals gained access to a victim’s Facebook account and posted naked photos of him on a fake dating website profile. Once they had photos of a victim, they commonly used the threat of further harassment and distribution to extort more images.
Investigators believe these criminals have victimized several dozen men and women—many in NYC, London and Paris. Some are believed to be overseas—but authorities have not identified all of the victims. Anyone who believes they may have been a victim in this case should contact the FBI. If you are afraid for your safety, please post your experience with these criminals here and we will transfer it to investigators.
We have the address where these individuals have received gifts for Karen. Interestingly enough, "Karen Faye Pratt" was listed under that address online (on websites such as Radaris, Intelius, 10digits.us, whitepages). Things were also returned from that address almost a year later - with the warning from Karen Faye Pratt - so investigators know that these criminals either live there or know someone who lives there. You can simply do a search on www.pipl..com with the name "Karen Faye Pratt" and the location "Hoffman Estates, Illinois" and this will lead to the address and telephone number of these criminals OR of someone who knows them very well.
Karen Faye Pratt pretends to be from the UK and to be half Indian (she has an international accent with clear Indian intonations). Ai Tominaga is a man who pretends to be Japanese born in Brazil. He has a VERY thick accent and writes in a way that indicates he is clearly not English speaking. Karen writes very good english and pretends to have been to North Western University (investigators called the university and she has never attended).
A criminal complaint contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. It is important to say that every defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.