North Carolina Man Sentenced for Cyber Extortion Scheme that Targeted International Technology Company in D.C.

<p>CHARLOTTE, N.C. –&nbsp;Cameron Curry, 27,&nbsp;of&nbsp;Charlotte, North Carolina, was sentenced&nbsp;today&nbsp;to&nbsp;24 months&nbsp;in&nbsp;prison&nbsp;for carrying out an extensive cyber extortion scheme against a D.C.-based international technology company,&nbsp;announced&nbsp;U.S.&nbsp;Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.&nbsp;</p><p>In March 2026, a federal jury convicted Curry of&nbsp;six counts of transmitting or willfully causing interstate communications with the intent&nbsp;to extort&nbsp;a victim company.&nbsp;In addition to the&nbsp;24-month&nbsp;prison sentence,&nbsp;Judge Kenneth D. Bell&nbsp;ordered Curry to serve one year of supervised release and&nbsp;to pay a&nbsp;money&nbsp;judgment of $7,540.92.&nbsp;</p><p>According to filed documents, trial evidence, and witness testimony, Curry was contracted to work as a data analyst for approximately six months with the victim company. In that capacity, Curry had access to the victim company’s data files and other personnel and corporate information. Trial evidence&nbsp;established&nbsp;that Curry misused his position to access the victim company’s personnel and other sensitive corporate records, which he then used to carry out the cyber extortion scheme.&nbsp;Curry&nbsp;hatched his extortion scheme after he learned that his contract was not going to be renewed and that he would no longer be employed by the company.&nbsp;</p><p>According to evidence presented at trial, from Dec.&nbsp;11, 2023, to Jan.&nbsp;24, 2024, Curry,&nbsp;identifying&nbsp;himself online as “Loot,” sent over 60 email messages to company employees and executives, threatening to&nbsp;disclose&nbsp;sensitive information unless he was paid $2.5 million dollars in cryptocurrency. Trial evidence&nbsp;further&nbsp;established that the email messages contained threats to&nbsp;disclose sensitive corporate information and&nbsp;employee data, including employees’ personally identifiable information (PII), as well as threats to harm the reputation of the victim company by reporting a breach of its information and publishing the information publicly if the victim company failed to pay him via cryptocurrency.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>On Jan.&nbsp;24, 2024, the FBI executed a search warrant at Curry’s residence, seizing various electronic devices. A forensic analysis of the evidence revealed that Curry was committing the extortion scheme under the “Loot” alias.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>This case&nbsp;was investigated by&nbsp;the&nbsp;FBI&nbsp;Washington Field Office&nbsp;with&nbsp;significant&nbsp;assistance&nbsp;from&nbsp;and the FBI Charlotte Field Office.&nbsp;</p><p>The case was prosecuted by&nbsp;Special Assistant&nbsp;U.S.&nbsp;Attorney Diane Lucas&nbsp;of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District of Columbia&nbsp;and&nbsp;Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Warren of the U.S. Attorney’s Office&nbsp;for the Western District of North Carolina.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>USAO-DC&nbsp;24cr252&nbsp;<br>USAO-WNC&nbsp;25cr148&nbsp;</p><p><br>Follow us on <a href="https://twitter.com/USAO_DC">X</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/usao_dc/">Instagram</a>, and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@usao_dc">YouTube</a><br>Or at <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc">https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc</a></p>