FBI Admits It Created Fake AP News Story

Agents sent story link to 15-year-old suspect's MySpace page

The FBI in Seattle has acknowledged it created a fake Associated Press news article to lure a suspect in a series of high-school bomb threats in 2007 into downloading secret software onto his computer, but says it did not use a bogus Seattle Times Web link to do it. Special Agent in Charge Frank Montoya Jr. said Tuesday that "at no time­ … did we reference The Seattle Times or provide any connection" to the newspaper when agents acted under the authorization of a federal search warrant.

The FBI sent a link to a 15-year-old suspect's MySpace page to lure him into opening the article. When he did, it downloaded law-enforcement malware that revealed his location and Internet Protocol address to agents investigating the threats that had led to several evacuations at Timberline High School in Lacey, Thurston County.

That link led to a bogus Associated Press story about the bomb threats, said FBI spokeswoman Ayn Dietrich-Williams.