US man fakes his death to avoid $100,000 in child support

A man from southern Kentucky, Jesse Kipf, has been sentenced to more than six years in federal prison after admitting to faking his death in an elaborate scheme to avoid paying over $100,000 in child support to his ex-wife. Kipf, 39, pleaded guilty to charges of computer fraud and identity theft, bringing an end to one of the more unusual hacking cases in recent U.S. criminal history.

According to court documents, Kipf accessed the Hawaii state government's computer registry of deceased individuals in early 2023. Posing as a medical certifier, he falsely recorded his own death in an attempt to evade his child support obligations.

This fraudulent act resulted in Kipf being registered as deceased in several government databases, according to statements from the U.S. attorney's office near Somerset, Kentucky, where Kipf resided.

Kipf's criminal activities didn't stop there. He also infiltrated death registry systems in other states and hacked into hotel booking platforms using stolen credentials from medical professionals.

He then sold access to these systems and databases containing private information, such as social security numbers, to other cybercriminals on the dark web. His customers reportedly came from countries including Algeria, Russia, and Ukraine.

Kipf's scheme eventually unraveled, leading to his criminal charges. In April, he reached a plea deal with federal prosecutors, which resulted in a sentencing of six years and eight months in prison. Under federal law, Kipf must serve at least 85% of his sentence and will be under the supervision of the U.S. probation office for three years following his release.