Man pretends to be dead to avoid paying child support

How far would you go to save some money? An American faked his own death so he wouldn’t have to pay child support. He also hacked into private businesses and attempted to sell access to company networks on the dark web.

This is the story of Jesse Kopf, a 39 year old man from Somerset, Kentucky. He and his wife were divorced and Kopf was ordered to pay child support. However, he didn’t feel like paying, so he came up with a plan.

In January 2023, Kopf accessed the Hawaii Death Registry System. To gain access he used the login credentials of a physician living in another state. When he was logged into the system, he created a case for his own demise.

Using the doctor’s identity, he pretended to be a medical certifier and certified his own death. Thanks to the Death Certificate Worksheet, he was registered as a deceased person. And since dead people don’t have an income, he no longer would have to pay for the livelihood of his kid.

The story doesn’t end here. Kipf also accessed other states’ death registry systems, private business networks, and governmental and corporate networks using credentials he stole from employees. He then tried to sell the login credentials to interested parties on the dark web.

Earlier this week Kipf was sentenced to 81 months in prison for computer fraud and aggravated identity theft. Under federal law, he has to serve 85 percent of his prison sentence, which is five-and-a-half years. Once he gets out of prison, he’ll be placed under supervision for three years.

The total damages he caused to computer systems and his failure to pay child support, amounted to $ 195,758.65.

“This scheme was a cynical and destructive effort, based in part on the inexcusable goal of avoiding his child support obligations. This case is a stark reminder of how damaging criminals with computers can be, and how critically important computer and online security is to us all. Fortunately, through the excellent work of our law enforcement partners, this case will serve as a warning to other cyber criminals, and he will face the consequences of his disgraceful conduct,” U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky Carlton Shier said in a statement.