handles like herring's had become really valuable status symbols. there is a big marketplace for this kind of stuff online, these short instagram handles or really unique names. if you go to this website, og users.com, apparently somebody offered 12 grand for, this but it says if you give us 25,000 now on the spot, we'll give it to you. the bad actors a s s are exploi these welcomeses. cbs news has learned of a gr growing criminal enterprise where victims across the country say they were threatened for their social media handles. it happened to this arkansas man with his 1-year-old child. he was told by his harasser surrender your instagram handle or i'm calling child protective services. how can you describe what they did to you? >> extortion, digital extortion, and just robbing people of their own security. >> reporter: meet marie. she spoke with us under the condition that we not tell you her real name. she described to us how her

tormenters harassed her just for her instagram handle. >> i started getting pizzas sent to my house at all times. >> reporter: did they pay for the pizza? >> the driver thought that i'd be paying in cash there would be four to five pizzas or food deliveries in a row. >> what? >> yes, biweekly. it was just relentless. >> reporter: now marie's handle was just two letters, her initials. but that could sell for thousands of dollars online. did you ever think of just turning it over and saying leetch me alone. here it is. >> no. >> why? >> it's mine. imagine in that's the norm to have somebody say i want somebody. give it to me. and you do. >> reporter: then one night the police showed up. >> they started screaming at me. they wanted to know what was going on in my house. and nothing. nothing was going on in my house. they told me somebody just called and said that there was a bomb in my house. >> reporter: a policeeptedhatal wants the victim's instagram

us >> i you're being watched by someone invisible that you don't know who it is and you don't know how far they'll go. >> reporter: assistant u.s. attorney deb ireland says these cases are hard for federal officials to investigate, and they're even harder to prosecute because there are no statutes that explicitly outlaw calling in fake emergencies. it is a tactic known as swating. >> law enforcement arrives ready to deal with a true emergency. and they arrive with all the tools at their disposdisposal. rorlz and that is exactly what happened to mark herring in the woods of tennessee last year. >> i'm going to blow this pipe bomb. i just want to kill myself. >> reporter: herring was watching tv when more than a dozen police cruisers showed up. he went out to his back porch. the officers had their guns drawn. they ordered him climb under this gap in the gate and keep your hands up. as he stood up, he collapsed. mark herring, the man who h preached internet safety, suffered aut what was going

through his mind. >> oh, he was scared to death. i guarantee you. i believe that's what killed him, just being scared to death. >> reporter: one week later, the fbi arrested shane sonderman, a 20-year-old. prosecutors say he arranged the herring swatting call and was part of a criminal ring that would annoy, harass, and intimidate victims into giving up their social media account names so that they could then sell them online to the highest bidder. >> it's saddening. it's maddening. it's disgusting. >> reporter: and it's criminal. >> and it's criminal. >> reporter: that same criminal ring also targeted marie. now she tried, unsuccessfully, to scrub her name off the internet all together. but don't you know when shane sonderman was first released on mail, marie got this text message from an anonymous number. >> i will start harassing your family again. and if i didn't do not give me the account, he will be doi ieva how can you choose your instagram over your family, you

spiteful [ bleep ]. and nice try try removing yourself off the websites. >> reporter: it's shocking. shane sonderman pleaded guilty to conspiracy. he was sentenced in july to conspiracy. we wanted to talk to him. we asked. we tried. we tried again, but never got a response. you know the person who called mike herring and scared him to death, as his daughter said? that was a 17-year-old kid in the united kingdom, who has not been arrested so far. >> david begnaud reporting. you're watching the "cbs overnight news." (ringing) - hey kaleb, what's up? how you doing? - hey, i'm good, guess what, i just had my 13th surgery. - really? i just had my 17th surgery. - well, you beat me. - well, i am a little bit older than you. - yeah it's true. how are you doing? - i'm doing good. i'm encouraged by seeing how people are coming together to help each other during times like these. - kind of like how shriners hospitals for children is there for us.

imagine if i couldn't get my surgery. who knows what would have happened. - same for me. i know my shriners hospitals family will continue to take care kids like us who need them most all because of caring people like you. - like me? - no, the people watching us right now at home. - oh, those people. hi people. - kaleb and i know not everyone can help right now, but for those of you who can, we hope you'll this special number on your screen right now. - you'll be making sure our amazing doctors and nurses can keep helping kids like us, who need them now and in the days to come. - your gift will make a huge difference for kids like us. - ooh, ooh, show them them the thank you gift. - okay, okay, hold on a second. with your gift of $19 a month we'll send you this adorable, love to the rescue blanket as a thank you and a reminder of the kids you're helping with your monthly support. - so what are you waiting for?

you can use your phone and call, or go to loveshriners.org to give and join with thousands of other generous people who change lives with their gifts every day. - i think that's about it buddy, good job. - my pleasure captain. please call now. if operators are busy with all the other caring people, please wait patiently, or you can go to loveshriners.org to give right away. - [alec] big or small, your gift helps us all. - [both] thank you. (giggling) instantly clear everyday congestion - [both] thank you. with vicks sinex saline. for fast drug free relief vicks sinex. instantly clear everyday congestion. and try vicks sinex children's saline. safe and gentle relief for children's noses. (clicking sound) hear that? ♪ ♪ that's dove's first aluminum-free refillable deodorant our best care for you... for them... for the planet join the refillable revolution

. if you've been in the furniture market lately, you know delays can stretch into months. the pandemic has delayed deliveries. one found sales up more than 180% over the past year. there is also a shortage of skilled workers to build the chairs and sofas. nikki battiste travelled to north carolina, america's furniture capital, to see what the industry is doing to break the logjam. >> reporter: here at the mitchell gold and bob williams furniture factory in north carolina, hundreds of craftsmen and crafts women meticulously sew, trim, and staple.

walking around this floor amid a symphony of staple and nail guns, you see so much of the work is done by hand. >> these are called leather pullers. you grab the seam, watch. seam coming out. you got to crank down on them. >> reporter: hands like robert's, an upholstery trimmer, are invaluable. are your hands tired? >> sometimes they get tired. you got to get used to it. you get toughened up. >> reporter: what's the one word you would use to describe the furniture industry right now? >> i would say it's booming. >> reporter: you started right after the 2008 crash. >> yes, ma'am. we were only working about four days a week, 32 hours a week. and now we're working 60 hours a week, and we can't get enough help. we have more work than we've ever had before. >> reporter: all that work is forcing furniture makers to scramble for labor. when tariffs were put in place by the trump administration, there was new pressure on

manufacturers to move production to the u.s. today, by some estimates, roughly half of up holeser furniture is made in america. when the pandemic hit, people spent more time at home, and furniture sales skyrocketed. there weren't enough skilled laborers to meet the demand. how many hands touch one chair or couch before it ends up in someone's home? >> roughly it's 50 sets of hands touch each one. >> reporter: that's why the company started teaching advanced trade skills like sewing and upholstery in-house. >> we just graduated five people from that about three months ago, and now we're starting a new class. >> reporter: how understaff ready you? >> ideally, we'd like 20% more people working here. >> reporter: allison o'conner, president and ceo of mitchell gold and bob williams says the company needs to boost both training and interest in the craft to help fill empty workstations. >> we at times i think have lost

sight of the importance of really respecting and promoting trade skills. and so for us, that's why we started our own training programs. that's why we're working with obviously our local colleges. >> reporter: a few years ago, the company teamed up with several major retailers to launch a nearby furniture academy. >> with this diploma, you can pretty much get a job anywhere, and you're set. >> reporter: people are knocking on your door? >> yes. >> reporter: single mom of two young boys, maria gonzalez just graduated. the 28-year-old recently completed a six-month upholstery program. now as a skilled craftswoman, she says her salary is nearly double what she earn as a furniture inspector. >> i don't have to be paycheck to paycheck anymore or scratching the last penny i have. i can actually go out with my kids comfortably. >> reporter: another student we met, emanuel bose told me he

accepted a job with craftmaster furniture before he even finished his course. >> they recruited me. i feel special, yeah. >> reporter: had you ever heard of a furniture academy? >> i knew they had school. i'd always ask people, man, how did you get in upholstery, i want to do that. you got to go to school. i was man. >> reporter: a lot more goes into making a piece of furniture than any of us ever thought. >> they are artisans. it's a craft. we've got some of the best in the business right here today. >> reporter: and there is the potential to have a nice living? >> oh, yeah. upholstery, sewing, cutting, all of them pay very well. the furniture industry pays very well. it's a great option for those kids, for those people who are willing to learn a trade and go right to work. >> reporter: nikki battiste, cbs news, new york. now for most people, tinder, that's a dating app. but there is one animal shelter in germany that's using the site to find new homes for their resident cats and dogs.

ian lee reports. >> reporter: captain kirk is ready for his close-up and a head scratch. an animal shelter in germany is using these pictures for the cat's tinder profile, to high pressure him boldly go to a new home. quite simply, it's a lot of fun and boring than boring newspaper ads, this worker says. we'd thought we'd join the young people and follow the trend on tinder. i don't won't find cute kittens or playful puppies here. these are older animals. they still love long walks on the beach, but they have a harder time finding new owners. "we've created profiles for 15 potential pets," this man says. "it's important to highlight that many of the animals here are lonely souls." the covid lockdown last year saw many pandemic puppies adopted, but some are now being abandoned as people go back to work. many ending up at this shelter. now they've already got folks swiping right in approval of their new tinder approach.

and who knows? maybe even captain kirk will find a purr-fect match. ian lee,

for many, coffee is part of our morning ritual, no matter what it cost, and those costs are going up. michael george tells us why. >> reporter: sweetwater's coffee and tea is a growing national chain that's managed to survive during the pandemic. which have seen many, many more guests come out, certainly since the past year. >> reporter: but ceo lisa bea says the company now faces another challenge, the high cost of coffee beans. drought and frost damaged crops in brazil, the world's largest coffee exporter. those shortages, along with shipping slowdowns are making beans more expensive. the international coffee organization says the overall benchmark price is up 43% since last year. now consumers are paying more, from the corner cafe to the

grocery store. sweetwater's is also charging more. custom me, how did they react to the price increases? >> customers have been very understanding. and we have actually only taken about a 5% price increase. >> reporter: the npd group says on average, americans are spending about 10 cents more for a cup of coffee now compared to last summer. larger companies have been able to withstand the growing expense for beans, but it's harder for small businesses. brian jocelyn owns mountain phoenix could have fief in salida, colorado and buys around 3,000 beans a month. >> we're paying roughly 30% more. we're talking around $2,000 per net profit per month that we're losing. >> reporter: jocelyn doesn't want to charge his customers more, but he isn't sure how long he can sustain these losses, especially if bean prices continue to climb. michael george, cbs news, new york. >> and that's the "overnight

news" for this tuesday. reporting from the nation's capital, i'm jan crawford. . good morning. this is cbs news flash. i'm tom hanson in new york. breaking overnight, hurricane nicholas, the 14th named storm this year is dumping more than a foot of rain in some parts of texas. the category 1 storm could reach parts of hard-hit louisiana by wednesday. if you own an iphone or ipad, listen up. apple is urging users to install the latest software update after discovering a security flaw allowing hackers to secretly install spyware whic eavesdrop and steal data op and apple device. and the met gala made a dazzling return monday with the theme "in america: a lexicon in fashion." the star-studded event did not disappoint, boasting a-listers from billie eilish to lil nas x to rihanna.

for more news download the cbs news app on your cell phone or connected tv. i'm tom hanson, cbs news, new yo . it's tuesday, september 14th, 2021. this is the "cbs morning news." breaking overnight, nicolas makes landfall. the storm slams into texas as a category 1 hurricane bringing heavy rain, storm surges and powerful winds. closing pitch. president biden stumps for california governor gavin newsom who could learn today whether he'll be ousted from office. high alert. u.s. capitol police is bracing for a potentially dangerous rally this weekend. the new security measures to avoid a repeat of the january 6th insurrection. well, good morning. good to be with you.