A U.S. federal court sentenced an Illinois man to more than six years in prison after he admitted to hacking Snapchat accounts of hundreds of women to steal nude and semi-nude photos, which he then stored and sold online.
Kyle Swara, 27, was sentenced to 76 months by Judge Brian Murphy of the federal court in Boston after pleading guilty to computer fraud and identity theft. The case is linked to the prosecution of a former Northeastern University track coach who hired him to hack student and other women’s accounts to steal private photos.
Prosecutors stated that between May 2020 and February 2021, Swara used anonymous online phone numbers to send deceptive messages to over 1,500 women, impersonating Snapchat support staff to trick victims into providing verification codes.
Hundreds of women fell for the scam, allowing Swara to access at least 517 Snapchat accounts and download nude or semi-nude photos of at least 59 victims.
In addition to keeping the photos for himself, he advertised hacking services online. One client was Steve Wethey, a former Northeastern University track coach, who paid Swara $50 to hack accounts of women including former athletes he coached to obtain private photos.
Wethey was sentenced to five years in prison in 2024 for fraud and stealing nude photos of at least 56 women across the U.S.
In court filings, Swara’s lawyer stated that his client feels deep remorse and shame, explaining that the offenses occurred while he was isolating at home during the COVID-19 pandemic as a University of Illinois student.
However, prosecutors revealed that Swara lied to investigators by denying any interest in child pornography, despite later findings of such materials in his online accounts. This led to additional charges of making false statements to authorities.
:sourcechannelnewsasia
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