Unseen - Taking Down the Dark Web Killer | The Case of Amanda Todd | UNSEEN

Starting point is 00:00:00 Over a decade ago, one of the most disturbing online communities in internet history repurposed this kid's show footage to create their own channel, exploiting YouTube's lack of regulation at the time. They publicly posted illicit content every week, destroying thousands of young girls' lives. They called it, capping. A lot of people wonder what exactly is capping. Some people describe it as an underground version of Girls Gone Wild. But there is no blackmail on Girls Gone Wild, and the girls have to be a teen. or over.

Starting point is 00:00:30 Complete opposite to what goes on here. The Cappers, the online predator ring behind these videos, pushed most of their victims into depression and so much worse. But what might surprise you is that one of their targets was a girl you probably already know. Meanwhile, another girl from blog has been talked about a lot this week, announcing Amanda. Hi, my name's Amanda.

Starting point is 00:00:52 Hey guys, Amanda. I give you a snap. It's not it. When I was 11 years old, I got a message saying, I have all your information. I will come find you if you don't flash. So I did it. And he said if I didn't do it again,

Starting point is 00:01:04 he would send to all port Coquitlam. This set in motion an endless blackmail campaign against the young teenager, involving hundreds of online predators. This one is for the rest of the internet. She says she had been IP banned and moved away, but we know she is still around. You already forgot who I am? The guy who last year made you changed school,

Starting point is 00:01:24 got your door kicked in by the cops? You know I won't stop until you give me those three shows. I am crazy. So your answer? Not going to happen. Do you want to meet me? Come meet me right now. Or are you too scared?

Starting point is 00:01:37 Eventually, something terrible happened. But Amanda's mother, Carol Todd, refused to let her blackmailer win. As her daughter's story went viral, Carol made it her mission to stop the cappers and prevent the next tragedy. I've put myself out there in the cyber world as Amanda's mom. You picked the wrong girl because I have fought for this for years. If I had one dying wish, that would be find out who started all this. This has been a daily task for happy hunting. August 28, 2012.

Starting point is 00:02:08 Amanda is 15 years old. She spends most of her time in her room. Afraid people outside will recognize her following the Kapper's third blackmail campaign against her. She has already changed schools, moved, gone offline, and met with the police. Out of options, the young teenager reaches out to one of her old friends for help. You know how many times I've heard? nobody likes you or wants you here. Go back to where you came from.

Starting point is 00:02:32 Or if you died, I would throw a party. Ever since all this happened, I just cry myself to sleep because it hurts no matter what. Please, please, just help me. It was then that Amanda got an idea. Reaching out to one person was not enough. She needed to tell her story to the whole world.

Starting point is 00:02:49 She started on this little project. She wouldn't tell me what the project was, but she told me that she needed black markers and she took all my white paper. To the tune of her favorite songs, Amanda shared everything in the video. From her first foray online to the two occasions she tried to end it all, she detailed how online predators and, eventually, her own peers, pushed her to the brink. She wrote about getting beaten up at school, hiding in ditches, eating alone in the library,

Starting point is 00:03:17 and living with the shame of knowing that all her friends, teachers, and even family members, saw the video. Amanda held nothing back, laying it all out for the world to see, but it seemed no one truly understood what she was trying to say. People think that that was a video. It was not. It was a release. She wanted her story out there, especially to the people that were harassing her. Amanda's video, titled My Story, eventually gained hundreds of millions of views through reposts and reactions.

Starting point is 00:03:45 But the response wasn't immediate. After posting it, only a few friends reached out. Ready to move forward, she thanked those who supported her and posted a final message on her social media. It's finally nice to see people care. My family and my mom are the ones trying to stay strong. But I'm just going to keep my head up. I booked November 28th to get my stay strong tattoo on my wrist so I can look at it and stop myself.

Starting point is 00:04:09 Love and cheers, Amanda. Sadly, Amanda never lived to get her stay strong tattoo. We can't think about it as it's someone else's story because it could one day become your story. How many discounts does USAA auto insurance offer? Too many to say here. Multi-vehicle discount, safe driver discount, new vehicle discount, storage discount, legacy. How many discounts will you stack up? Tap the banner or visit usa.com slash auto discounts. Restrictions apply.

Starting point is 00:04:42 It all began in Port Coquitlam near Vancouver, Canada. After she and her husband split, Carol raised Amanda alone for most of her childhood. She tried to keep her daughter occupied. But the young girl's timid nature made it difficult. I am Carol Todd. I'm the mother of Amanda Todd. She was spirited. She was creative, painfully shy at times in her life. As Amanda grew older, she was diagnosed with ADHD and other neurodivergent traits. Despite these challenges, she actively sought out friendships,

Starting point is 00:05:15 though most of her peers picked on her, calling her awkward and naive. Kids would laugh at her, so she'd compensate in other ways. But it wasn't always to her benefit. And so then eventually she would become quieter. She developed anxieties. She's a great little kid. She was a firecracker. She had a lot of spunk in her.

Starting point is 00:05:35 And sometimes it got her into trouble. But it was far from looking like trouble at first. Amanda loved music. She liked singing, dancing, recording herself with her webcam, and sharing her creations on YouTube. But at such a young age, the lonely teen didn't realize that among her audience were online predators with the worst.

Starting point is 00:05:52 of intentions. Amanda was vulnerable. She was looking for friendships. And unfortunately, someone, the predator, found her when she was the most vulnerable and befriended her, grooming, as we call it. And Amanda fell for it. My dad will say bedtime and I'll close the laptop. And when he closes my door, I'll be back. Happy Father's Day. Cap, and Kemp. Welcome to the first edition of our new show, The Daily Kappa. The capping world may seem unknown and mysterious to some. But really, there's nothing mysterious about it. We are here to report on what goes on in the capping world, week by week. These are some highlights from this past week. Monday. Nicole 34 was blackmailed by Duthola Day and exposed her on stream. Thursday, four. 13 year old girl. from Blog TV Jr. were blackmailed and forced to in front of a room of 300. A hero even streamed their own video back to them later that night. Friday, many successfully pressured a 12-year-old black girl with her 8-year-old sister to...

Starting point is 00:07:14 Seriously, an 8-year-old, if you want to know where you can get any of the videos. Just message the person who blackmailed them. This has been the Daily Kapper. Until next week, happy hunting. These were the kind of people on the other side of Amanda's screen. The group, known as the Cappers, was an online predator ring targeting young girls and boys on early streaming platforms. What made them stand out was that they didn't operate in secret or hide on the dark web. Instead, they openly celebrated their crimes on their own YouTube channel,

Starting point is 00:07:44 even holding an annual award ceremony called the Capper Awards. Welcome Cappers and Camp to the official 2010 Capper Awards video. Here we'll go over the awards and the nominees. And the winner, four blackmailer of the year, is Cody 1206. His latest victim, 15-year-old Peyton, gave into every request. He even got a vice reporter into the tiny chat room and got him to watch on cam before getting her to snap and cry in front of everyone. Congrats on the epic win, Cody, and thanks for the caps. As seen in the episode, cappers created their own lingo, calling photos of girls' caps and successful blackmail attempts, epic wins,

Starting point is 00:08:25 To get what they wanted, they would gain the victim's trust by pretending to be around their age and befriending the targets with compliments. But their true goal was to manipulate them into creating illicit content. When the grooming approach didn't work, Cappers weren't afraid to use more drastic methods. When I was 11 years old, I got a message saying, I have all your information. I will come find you if you don't flash and do this for me.

Starting point is 00:08:48 So I was scared. I said, one time, okay, so I did it. And he said if I didn't do it again, He would send to all port coquitlam. This harassment lasted for three full years until she was eventually pressured into doing it at age 14. Some creepy guys talking to me. Oh my God.

Starting point is 00:09:11 I'm scared. All those things you've been doing for the past few hours won't stop the shit storm from coming. Trust me. She was crying. She was hysterical. She was panicking. And she said, someone has a photo of my body.

Starting point is 00:09:26 And she asked me, is her a way to delete it? Is her a way? to take it away from this person. Should I call the police? I don't want to call the police. I'm scared. Three shows and it all goes away. What's the big deal? Amanda wouldn't provide more video or performances

Starting point is 00:09:42 for the online predator. December 2010 was when her image was placed on an adult's site. And then, so the cops came to my door at 4 a.m. and told me he posted it. I got my life ruined. I got texts from people saying, Why did you do it? I didn't.

Starting point is 00:10:01 He sent the picture out. If you get the picture, I'm asking everyone to not send it. Tell your parents or call the police. It was a, oh my God, WTF kind of moment. Like, you can never expect an image like that to be out there. And your mind goes, who would be doing this? Why are they doing this? Why my kid?

Starting point is 00:10:24 The police advised Amanda to stay offline for a while, but the spread of the pictures destroyed her social life, pushing her further into the online world. To remedy the situation, Carol had her switch schools, and then everything changed. Amanda made new friends, started singing again, and slowly regained her spirit. But six months later, the capper struck again,

Starting point is 00:10:45 sending the pictures to every student, teacher, and official in both of her city's school districts. During this time when things were escalating, Did you go to police and did they help? Went to police every time. What did they do? Talk to her. The answer was still get her off social media,

Starting point is 00:11:01 get her off her technology. Andrea Shadek, one of the RCMP agents in charge of Amanda's case, visited the teenager following the second blackmail campaign against her. I knocked on her door and she told me to come in and I found a totally different child in that room. You know, I told her I understood the draw to be on Facebook and stuff like that. It's kind of addictive. And I asked her, why do you keep creating all these profiles and why do you keep adding people that you don't know in real life?

Starting point is 00:11:30 And she just said, I'm lonely. Over the next year, Carol and Amanda moved away to give the latter a fresh start, but the cappers followed. At this point, Sheidek escalated the case to the provincial level and passed her findings to BC Ice. A new RCMP unit specialized in preventing the online exploitation of children. They came back with he just is very good at what he does. He's masked his IP address. There's no way to figure out who's doing this. I fully trusted that they had the technology and the training to handle something like this.

Starting point is 00:12:08 Probably that was the first time in my career where I felt disillusioned with my job. I was powerless to protect her. But Amanda grew more resilient over the years when she was targeted for the third time by seemingly the same individual, she didn't hesitate to fight back. You can give me three shows, and I will disappear forever. You know I won't stop until you give me those three shows. If you go to a new school, new BF, new friends, new whatever, I will be there again. I am crazy.

Starting point is 00:12:37 Yes. So your answer? Not going to happen. Do you want to meet me? Come meet me right now. Or are you too scared? Eventually, Amanda and Carol discovered that most of the accounts targeting her online linked back to a single Facebook profile under the name Tyler Boo.

Starting point is 00:12:54 Not only did Amanda dare to face him head on, but she also attempted to expose him on her own social media. Judge me or be there for me. He made you all think he's a young boy in his teens. When he's over 30, he's Tyler Boo. He's a sick pile. From then on, Carol took the reins. With her daughter's help,

Starting point is 00:13:12 she assembled a case file with all the information a qualified cyber investigator would need to find Amanda's blackmailer. She even had a plan by impersonating her daughter, an RCMP agent could easily catch Tyler Boo in the act. However, the police never moved an inch in the case. Their only advice was still to get Amanda offline, as if this was even possible in the internet era. You've got pictures, you've got email addresses, you know, you've got a campaign here. It's all right here. What did you do with this?

Starting point is 00:13:43 Sent it to the RCMP. Could they have done more, probably? With what seemed like the whole world against her, Amanda's mental health took a downturn. In the last three years, her online nightmare slowly spilled over her real life, until it all came crashing down. Other girls in school started pushing her around, and eventually she was senselessly attacked by a group of them. We went to the hospital.

Starting point is 00:14:07 They said she had a concussion. That assault began the deep down spiral of Amanda. It's the start of her mental mental illness. mental health breakdown. Amanda wanted friends. She just wanted acceptance. Following the assault, Amanda made several attempts to end her suffering, but Carol got her under medication and sought professional help. The teenager also created and posted her now famous My Story video around that time. But a few weeks later, on World Mental Health Day, Amanda lost the fight. Um, I got a phone call. That was it. Change for life forever.

Starting point is 00:14:56 Was her last message to you? That she loved me, to not be mad at her, that she would always be my princess, Noah. Looking back, Carol couldn't help but feel responsible. I wish that I had had deeper conversations with my daughter, but I was afraid she would continue to herself. I was afraid that she would successfully die by side earlier than she did. And so saying, are you safe? Are you thinking about wasn't something I ever asked her because I was afraid. But I've learned now that if you don't ask, you don't find out.

Starting point is 00:15:43 And so I would think that that's my biggest regret. This weekend, a candlelight vigil in her memory as friends struggled to make sense of all of it. She was just so happy all the time and like when you first meet her, you wouldn't know that she had any problems. Amanda's Predator probably didn't anticipate her video going viral, but in merely a week, it made global headlines. What kind of person bullies a vulnerable child online? However, many news outlets missed the full scope of what happened. Only Carol and the Cappers knew about Tyler Boo's involvement. Welcome to another edition of The Daily Capper.

Starting point is 00:16:27 We just wanted to help provide a few more details to the recent Amanda Todd tragedy, the majority of people seem misinformed. The media tends to miss out on the lot of key information. Others have no idea what they're talking about, and police investigators have no understanding of the internet at all. While people have made Amanda Todd's case into an example of bullying, what they tend to overlook is the capping and blackmail aspect of the story, contrary to what the media believes this wasn't just a petty case of cyberbullying. The more Carol looked back at her case files, the more she became convinced that Tyler Boo

Starting point is 00:17:03 was the one pulling the strings of Amanda's entire blackmail campaign. It's a sick person. It's someone that's praying on innocent children, someone who knew what he was doing. If I had one dying wish that would be it, find out who started all this. Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, another young girl encountered Tyler Boo. Barely a month after Amanda's passing, 15-year-old Norwegian teenager Nora was targeted by an individual named Tyler C. on Facebook. The messages he sent her seemed all too familiar. Hey, you will perform Skype shows, or else your friends, family, and authorities will see your pictures. I will make you so famous your life will be a living hell.

Starting point is 00:17:45 I will put these videos in your full name, address, and moron sites. I will do it tomorrow. You've had your chance. The following day, her pictures were sent to hundreds of people. Nora was so scared that she and her parents left the country since again the police wouldn't help But in their stead another online community you might know entered the frame Dear citizens of our nation we have brought this announcement Farwards solely far the purpose of releasing Amanda Todd's Punisher's identity

Starting point is 00:18:15 Or you will find a URL to the man's docs in there you will see various information about said person and abomination to our society We are anonymous. We are ancient. We do not forget. We do not forget. It's a bit of us. Hactivist group Anonymous has identified the individual who bullied Amanda Todd initially. They shared his private information online.

Starting point is 00:18:40 I mean, Anonymous is amazing with this stuff. You don't want to mess with Anonymous because they will find your private information and they will post it online. Back in 2013, the hacktivist group known as Anonymous had already hacked through the FBI, the Church of Scientology, and the place of the playlists. and the PlayStation Network, but finding Amanda's blackmailer has somehow proven more difficult than expected. Anonymous had a name, but the question was, without any investigative process, should we trust their findings? They were able to identify a known hacker and blackmailer, Cody Maxen, as the man responsible. If you remember correctly, this was around the time Cody won the Blackmailer of the year award for the Payton Caps.

Starting point is 00:19:19 However, according to the very intelligent Canadian law enforcement, it's all just one. big coincidence. They've stated that Cody is a man of no interest. It makes us wonder why bother asking for the public's help if they are just going to shrug off any information handed to them. It seemed like the RCMP was right though. Cody Maxin was a known predator with a long list of victims, but looking back at her case file, Carol couldn't link Tyler Bout to him, while Amanda's death went unpunished for the time being. Her video took the internet by storm. All over the world, people were hearing her story. I'm sorry.

Starting point is 00:19:54 to her after this was posted? No. She ended up... Unfortunately, not everyone took Amanda's story at face value. As the video became increasingly viral, it also attracted many online bullies. Amanda Todd's story has captured attention around the world, but even after Amanda's death, some are posting hurtful comments on memorial pages dedicated to her. All these mean-hearted people are over here, like, she deserved it. No, she didn't. He's a grown man.

Starting point is 00:20:22 He shouldn't be picking on... picking on some teenage girl. Most of all, I want them to remember she was just a little girl. She was not responsible for what happened to her. A week after Amanda went viral, Facebook, Skype, and YouTube implemented new measures to protect their youngest users. Facebook in particular also started tracking accounts against which they received multiple complaints. They uncovered that Tyler Boo, Tyler C., variations of Cody 1206, and over 90%

Starting point is 00:20:52 names all pointed toward the same set of IP addresses. Maybe anonymous wasn't that off the mark after all. There was as many as 75 victims in countries around the world, including Canada, United States, Great Britain, and some other countries in Europe. Facebook quickly shared their findings with police, but nobody knew there was a connection between the suspect and Amanda until Dutch journalist Matthews Pennings started investigating. In 2013, they got a tip from Facebook. They made a report that all these young girls were harassed also by IP addresses that were connected to the Netherlands. It was by talking to sources that one of them told me, yeah, there is one case that is known. Yeah, he said something about

Starting point is 00:21:38 Canada and I recently saw something on TV about Amanda thought. They broke into the bungalow where he was staying, the police, and they installed a key logger software. And with that, They could follow anything that he would type on his computer, but it would also make screenshots every 30 seconds when he was using his mouse. So that's how they could read all the chats that he had with young victims. In a strange turn of events, the European police came up with the same plan Carol proposed to the RCMP a year earlier when Amanda was still alive. An agent in the UK pretended to be one of the victims of the capper and got the suspect to engage in illegal activity with her. Once he was caught in the act, the Dutch police raided his

Starting point is 00:22:21 home. Inspector Yori Van Scheindle said they hoped to catch the 44-year-old at his computer, entering the one-story brick building silently, but Coban got up to go to the bathroom and emerged with an iron pipe. The officers said he figured the suspect caught sight of his team in a mirror. They moved on him in the hall, with Coban cutting his right eye on a radiator, before the officers could handcuff him, blindfold him, and stick headphones over his ears so he wouldn't be aware of what was happening as officers removed the covert surveillance devices. Before his article was published, someone in Penning's office contacted Carol to ensure she was the first to know. I actually got a message from someone in the Netherlands who told me that someone had been arrested. And that's when

Starting point is 00:23:09 I found out that they had caught a perpetrator by the name of Eidenkobath. But this was only the beginning of Carroll's fight. Not only did the Dutch authorities refuse to handle Amanda's case in the Netherlands, but many of the initial charges brought against Cobain could be dropped. Due to the dubious nature of the investigation, Coben might have been an alleged criminal, but according to the law, he still had the right to privacy, something the police knew when they pirated his devices. This is truly a day that we've been waiting for to hear that something has come out of Amanda's story.

Starting point is 00:23:42 I'm just really glad that we finally have a suspect arrest. and hopefully we can get some justice out of it. The suspect was arrested by Dutch authorities in the Netherlands. He was charged yesterday in his home country and he is now facing charges in Canada as well. We need to make sure there's justice for Amanda so that the wheels are rolling for other countries, that they can stop these predators. Coben wasn't just like any cybercriminal. Not only did it take the collaboration of four countries to find him,

Starting point is 00:24:13 but even anonymous got him confused. The Economist got him confused with another. Inside his home, police found multiple hacking devices and a strange mask used to keep his identity hidden while streaming. Inside his computer, they discovered hundreds of video files using the names of his victims as titles. One of these was named Amanda Todd.wm.v. But even with this mountain of evidence, the police had to be careful. The legality of their own investigation, like the use of key logging and capping software to spy on Coben, wasn't entirely legitimate. had to take their time since any misstep could cause the entire case to collapse.

Starting point is 00:24:46 On top of that, Coben's lawyer declared that if judged guilty, his client would go on appeal, no matter what. My client is 36 years old, a Turkish Dutch citizen, a calm and decent person, as I know him. And that's all I can say about it. So it was a long wait about what would happen. Was he appealing to delay everything? I thought it would never happen. Never.

Starting point is 00:25:12 Five years after her daughter's tragic death, Carol traveled to Amsterdam to attend Coben's trial. Over the course of three months, 39 alleged victims supported the 72 charges of production, possession and distribution of illicit content, essay involving minors, fraud, harassment, criminal luring, and extortion held against Aidan. We had victims from Norway, England, the United States, Canada. The courtroom was literally packed with people. from all over the world, reporters from different countries. And I think also because Carol was there.

Starting point is 00:25:48 Carol, Amanda's mother. Aw. Pay off your home, travel for life, drive a Ferrari. In celebration of the world premiere of the Monopoly, Big Board Buckslot Machine by Aristocrat Gaming, Yamava Resort and Casino at San Manuel is giving one person a $1.6 million dream package. The biggest prize in Yamaba's history. Club Serrano members can earn daily instant prizes

Starting point is 00:26:10 and secure a spot in the finale, May 29. Don't pass go and own it all. Only at Yamava, celebrating its 40th anniversary. You win? Details at yamava.com must be 21-20. Please gamble responsibly. Monopoly is a trademark of Hasbro. Hasbro is not a sponsor of this promotion. After being found guilty in the Netherlands, Coben was extradited to Canada for a second trial. The prosecution based their case, among other things, on the fact that every day, for over three years, and even after her death, Coben repeatedly watched a video titled Amanda Todd.w.m.v on his computer, proving he was obsessed with a young teenager. Eventually, after five years of procedures and multiple months in court, Carol finally got justice for her daughter.

Starting point is 00:26:51 The man accused of sexually extorting BC teenager Amanda Todd has been found guilty on all charges. Coben was sentenced to 17 years behind bars, but Amanda's parents didn't stop at Coben. Their next mission would be to make sure such a tragedy would never have. happen again. And so here we are October 14th, 2022, and the judge just imposed a sentence that was higher than what Crown asked for. It was amazing because it was justice for Amanda. This will make a difference in the world for the kids. And I have to hope that Amanda's watching from somewhere to see what her voice did. I still think it could even be more. It's really, It really needs to be hit hard.

Starting point is 00:27:38 It's a big problem. And hopefully this does take it to that higher level. Following Amanda's death, the Daily Kapper vanished from the internet, deleting all content except for an apology video. Andrea Shadek, who left the RCMP after her department failed to protect the teenager, believes that without Amanda's involvement, Coben would have never been arrested, and the Daily Kapper would probably still be out there. That video is what kicked everybody into gear, put pressure.

Starting point is 00:28:07 to reopen that investigation. But in my mind, Amanda, had she just committed and not made that video, Coban might have gotten away with it. So I think she's a hero. Since her video went viral, Amanda indirectly saved thousands of lives, if not more. In 2014, Canada passed Amanda's law to criminally persecute the distribution of intimate images without consent. Schools and organizations ramped up on cyberbullying awareness. Law enforcement agencies around the world turned Amanda's ordeal into a case study, and public awareness on the issue significantly increased.

Starting point is 00:28:44 Today, Carol's journey continues through the Amanda Todd Legacy Society, a non-profit that focuses on prevention and awareness related to cyberbullying, child exploitation, and internet safety. I've learned a lot from Amanda, her life and her death. I want us all to use her story in order to make change. What I want to tell parents is don't be afraid of technology. It's part of our life and it's here to stay. We need to talk about what everyone is doing in their digital life. If there's a game, talk about the game. If there's an app, talk about the app, talk about the online safety.

Starting point is 00:29:26 Just have those conversations as a normal part of life. Having open communication, having that trust and encouraging your children to say, can you help me? I can't help Amanda anymore, but I can certainly help other families and other children, and that's important to me. I think that if Amanda were watching, she would be surprised at what has been accomplished in her memory. gives me hope. Hope that tomorrow's a better day. Hope that things will change in the world. Hope that we can all be kinder,

Starting point is 00:30:11 that we can be more compassionate, that we can listen without judgment, that we can get along because we're all humans. I as her mother feel that there's a responsibility to ensure that what happened to her doesn't happen to any other child. or family. And so I will put myself out there and do it for my daughter. This is Amanda's legacy.

Unseen - Taking Down the Dark Web Killer | The Case of Amanda Todd | UNSEEN

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