SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — A Pottsville man pleaded guilty in federal court on Tuesday after being accused of hacking into women’s Snapchat accounts and selling their pictures to “clients.”
On Tuesday, United States Attorney Gerard M. Karam announced that 34-year-old Brandon B. Boyer of Pottsville pleaded guilty in court before United States District Court Judge Malachy E. Mannion to computer hacking offenses and getting information from protected computers.
According to Karam, the charges, to which Boyer pleaded guilty alleged from February 2020 to February of 2022, Boyer illegally accessed the computers of multiple women to search for and obtain nude images he could sell.
The release explained that Boyer admitted to accessing victims’ Snapchat accounts for “clients” who paid him to hack into the accounts for the photos. He was able to access the devices, in part, through the use of an app that let him send text messages to victims posing as a representative from Snapchat, the release added.
Boyer, according to Karam, “phished” the victims by convincing them to change their passwords and send him the verification codes, which would let him gain access to the accounts.
According to the release, “Boyer agreed that the monetary loss attributable to his conduct was between $40,000 and $95,000.”
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Philadelphia Division and the US Attorney Jeffery St John is prosecuting the case.
Under federal law, the release explains that the maximum penalty for the offense is five years in prison, a supervised release, and a fine.
A guilty sentence was imposed by Judge Mannion after consideration of federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.
