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BOSTON, Mass. - A man from the Chicago suburbs was charged in federal court with allegedly trying to hack into the Snapchat accounts of hundreds of women to access nude photos to steal and sell on the internet.
What we know:
Kyle Svara, 26, of Oswego, was charged with aggravated identify theft, wire fraud, computer fraud, conspiracy to commit computer fraud, and false statements related to child pornography, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District of Massachusetts.
Prosecutors said the alleged hacking took place between May 2020 and February 2021 when Svara was a student at Colby College in Waterville, Maine, and was hired by a former Northeastern University track and field coach to hack accounts of female student athletes.
The defendant allegedly used "social engineering" to access the victims’ personal data and their accounts. Snapchat Inc. sent security codes to the victims, which Svara then requested from them while posing as a representative from Snapchat by using anonymized phone numbers.
Around 570 victims provided those codes to Svara, which he then allegedly used to access about 59 accounts without their permission. He also allegedly downloaded their nude or semi-nude images to sell or trade on internet forums, prosecutors said.
Federal prosecutors added that Steve Waithe, a former track and field coach at Northeastern University, hired and paid Svara to hack the accounts of women he coached and had relationships with. Waithe was convicted in federal court in 2023 of wire fraud, cyberstalking, and other crimes, and later sentenced to five years in prison.
If he’s convicted of the charges, Svara could face:
- Up to two years in prison, a year of supervised release and a $250,000 fine for each aggravated identity theft charge.
- Up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the gross gain/loss from the offense for each wire fraud charge.
- Up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000 for each computer fraud and conspiracy to commit computer fraud charge.
- Up to eight years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine for each charge of false statements related to a child pornography offense.