A Schuylkill County man was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for hacking the Snapchat accounts of dozens of women and then selling nude photos he found of them.
The sentence against Brandon Boyer, 34, of Pottsville, was handed down in US District Court on Thursday by Judge Malachy Mannion.
Following his stay in prison, Boyer must serve an additional 2 years of supervised release.
Last year, Boyer admitted to authorities that he worked on behalf of “clients” to gain access to Snapchat accounts of dozens of women. Boyer used a technique known as phishing, posing as a Snapchat representative, to gain access to the accounts.
The women he contacted were told to change their passwords at Boyer’s request and then send him the verification code they received. Once inside their accounts, Boyer was able to access private sections of their profiles.
Boyer would seek out nude photos of the women and then sell them. He said he made between $50-60,000 selling these nudes.
Additionally, some of the “clients” for whom Boyer claims to have been working were using the photos he got in an attempt to cyberstalk and extort the women who had granted him access to their accounts.