The creepy computer nerd who hacked into dozens of female celebrity’s iPhones and Gmail accounts was charged with felony computer hacking, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The guy who never gets laid, Ryan Collins, 36, took a plea deal, agreeing to plead guilty to a felony violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, and one count of unauthorized access to a protected computer to obtain information.
Jennifer Lawrence, Gabrielle Union, Kate Upton, Amber Heard, Rihanna, and Ariana Grande were among his victims, whose nude photos were exposed to the world without their consent.
Lawrence told Vanity Fair in a November 2014 article that the invasion of privacy was more than a scandal — it’s a sex crime. “The law needs to be changed, and we need to change,” she said in the cover story. “Just the fact that somebody can be sexually exploited and violated, and the first thought that crosses somebody’s mind is to make a profit from it.”
The hacker hacked into 50 iCloud accounts and 72 Gmail accounts. But what we all want to know how is how did he do it?
From November 2012 through September 2014, says the Hollywood Reporter, “Collins phished for usernames and passwords by sending emails to victims that seemed to be from Apple or Google. When they responded, he then had access to their email accounts and personal information, including the nude photos, and in some instances he downloaded their Apple iCloud backups.”
“By illegally accessing intimate details of his victims’ personal lives, Mr. Collins violated their privacy and left many to contend with lasting emotional distress, embarrassment and feelings of insecurity,” said David Bowdich, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office, in the statement. “We continue to see both celebrities and victims from all walks of life suffer the consequences of this crime and strongly encourage users of Internet-connected devices to strengthen passwords and to be skeptical when replying to emails asking for personal information.”
The now unhappy hacker faces up to five years in federal prison, but prosecutors will recommend 18 months.
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