Network chief allegedly tries to extort $750,000 from former employers

After getting fired from his job as a director of infrastructure services, a Statesville (NC) man decided to try an extort his employers by threatening to release customers” private information to the mainstream.

Court papers don”t mention the name of the company where Matthew Moebius worked for, but they do say he worked there for 13 years, according to wsoctv.com. According to the filings, Moebius served as director of network infrastructure services for the company until his untimely departure in 2014. The reason for his firing also isn”t mentioned.

As the story goes, after getting canned, a disgruntled Moebius used an overseas encrypted email service to threaten senior executives with the release of customers” private information. To refrain from doing so, Moebius allegedly demanded $750,000 from his former employers.

According to court papers, one of Moebious”s messages said, “Sorry to interrupt your boy scout canoeing trip. Reply or this goes to the next level now. You have no idea how much customer data will go to the internet, but you will if you delay. Name any client and get a data file in return.”

His threats fell on deaf ears, so a month later he emailed three company executives and included personally identifiable information for three customers.

“To Internet CC [company] customers or not. Keep [expletive] around and be destroyed. This is a tiny sample,” this email reportedly said.

Charged with extortion and identity theft, Moebius pleaded not guilty and requested that his case go to trial.