the ransom artist is in full control of the account and sending out emails and text (through google voice) as him. His account is not disabled. The google Apps

the ransom artist is in full control of the account and sending out emails and text (through google voice) as him. His account is not disabled. The google Apps access account is not the same as his Gmail account, that is where you might be confused. The apps access is disabled. He is an active member of the bitcoin community just like the two bitcoin members mentioned in the article, where one of them got swatted, for about the same ransom amount. It could be related. Obviously he was targeted to some extent because the attacker knew he had BTC. Google Gmail end user license agreement specifically allows google to read your emails. My point is they could do a better job, they just don't care. You can't trust them, they don't have any financial incentive to treat you as a real human person. Right now Google ads is happily serving ads to right of my friend's gmail account while ransom artist is using the account, and google is making money off those clicks -- that's all they care about. Ultimately, there is no human dimension in their company vision.