Karen Elaine Hanover, Once Looking at 40 Years in Spoofing Case, Gets 6 Months in Jail

​Karen Elaine Hanover, a 44-year-old Seal Beach real estate saleswoman convicted for using "spoofing" technology to impersonate FBI agents threatening business clients over the phone, was sentenced this week to six months in jail and ordered to pay $5,000 in fines. That's a much lighter sentence than the three years in federal prison and $250,000 fine she could have received--and way better than the 40 years behind bars she was looking at before obstruction of justice counts against her were dropped last year. So, count your blessings, honey.

Shady real estate deals prompted some of Hanover's clients to complain. She responded with "spoofing" software, an online service that allows a caller to disguise a number and create a fake caller ID, to make those clients believe she was an FBI agent threatening them to keep their mouths shut about Hanover.

The phony FBI agent told those who had been burned by Hanover that they could get prison stretches for complaining on an Internet blog that Hanover scammed them. She had collected $30,000 to provide the clients with information on "prime" commercial properties, but after paying her those who doled out the money felt she did nothing else for them.

Unfortunately for Hanover, the clients contacted the real FBI after the fake FBI contacted them.

Previous coverage:

• Karen Elaine Hanover Guilty of "Spoofing" to Impersonate FBI Agent Who Spooked Her Critics

• Karen Elaine Hanover Accused of Impersonating FBI Agents With 'Spoofing' Technology to Spook Clients Who Believed She was Scamming Them