Rutherford teen in ‘catfish’ scam sentenced to 6 months in prison
JUNE 25, 2014, 2:38 PM LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, JUNE 25, 2014, 6:59 PM
BY KAREN SUDOL
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD
A federal judge sentenced a Rutherford teen to six months in prison for luring a classmate into an online relationship with a fictitious girl he created on Facebook and making a false kidnapping report about the girl to an overseas U.S. Embassy.But Andriy Mykhaylivskyy, 19, received credit for three months time served so he will serve three months in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
U.S. District Judge Claire C. Cecchi also ordered Mykhaylivskyy to pay a $500 fine and serve three years of supervised release, federal prosecutors said.
The type of scam Mykhaylivskyy admitted to in court in March is called “catfishing,” which involves creating an elaborate fake persona to attract a handful of victims, often causing far greater financial and emotional damage. He pleaded guilty to making false statements in a matter within the jurisdiction of the executive branch of the U.S. government.
Specifically, Mykhaylivskyy created a fake online identity in the name of Kate Fulton and started an online relationship using her fake name with a then-18-year-old classmate. In July, while visiting Ukraine, he telephoned the U.S. Embassy in Moldova and reported that his girlfriend, Kate Fulton, had been kidnapped while vacationing in Bulgaria and that her mother had received a $50,000 ransom demand.
– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/rutherford-teen-in-catfish-scam-sentenced-to-6-months-in-prison-1.1041137#sthash.arJrALEW.dpuf
