An Illinois man, Kyle Svara, has been indicted for a phishing scheme that compromised the Snapchat accounts of nearly 600 women to illicitly obtain and sell private photos. The alleged criminal activity occurred between May 2020 and February 2021, during which Svara is accused of using social engineering to harvest personal information, including emails and phone numbers, from over 4,500 targets.
Prosecutors claim that Svara accessed at least 59 accounts without authorization, downloading explicit images, and subsequently offered his hacking services online. He reportedly encouraged potential accomplices to communicate through secure platforms like Kik. Notably, one of his clients, Steve Waithe, a former track coach at Northeastern University, was sentenced to five years in prison for targeting female student-athletes.
Svara is facing serious charges, including aggravated identity theft and wire fraud, among others, with court proceedings scheduled for February 4 in Boston. If convicted, he could face significant prison time, with aggravated identity theft carrying a minimum two-year sentence and wire fraud potentially leading to 20 years behind bars.