A Pottsville man admitted today that he hacked into the Snapchat account of dozens of adult women so he could sell nude photos he found of them.
According to information from the US Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, Brandon B. Boyer, 34, admitted in court on Tuesday that he used a phishing campaign to gain access to the Snapchat accounts. He told District Court Judge Malachy Mannion that he was acting on behalf of “clients” who were reportedly paying him for these nude photos.
These supposed “clients” paid Boyer to gain access to the Snapchat accounts. Boyer’s phishing activity carried on from February 2020 until February 2022.
Boyer told Mannion that he used an app that allowed him to appear as a representative from Snapchat. He would then send his targets a text message that prompted the Snapchat users to change their account passwords. The marks would then send a verification code to Boyer. From there, he was able to gain access to their accounts and hunt for nude photos of them.
The Justice Dept. says Boyer admitted on Tuesday that a monetary loss of between $40,000 and $95,000 could be attributed to his activity, but failed to disclose how.
Boyer is now facing a maximum of 5 years in prison and a period of supervised release, plus a fine.
