130 Celebrities' Email Accounts Hacked; Hacker Stole Movie Scripts and Sex Tapes
Breaking News:
A 23-year-old Bahamian man has been arrested and charged with hacking
into the email accounts of 130 celebrities and stealing the unreleased
movie and TV scripts, sex tapes, explicit images and even the upcoming
album of a famous A-List Celebrity.
The hacker named Alonzo Knowles contacted a famous radio host to
sell the stolen scripts for the first six episodes of a hit television
drama currently being filmed.
The unnamed host informed about it to the Homeland Security that cooked
up a sting operation and had the radio host put the hacker in touch with
an undercover investigator posing as an interested buyer.
The LOSE
Among the items he offered to sell were:
- Scripts for three comedy films
- A hip-hop biopic
- Another television show
- Social Security numbers for actors and professional athletes
- Emails and phone numbers of at least 130 celebrities
- Sex tapes of celebrities
The hacker was arrested on Monday in Manhattan, a day after arriving
from the Bahamas to sell the agent 15 movie and TV shows scripts and the
Social Security Numbers (SSNs) of a movie actress and two athletes for $80,000.
Besides this, Knowles also showed the agent a sex tape, saying the sex tape is just a "sample of things [he] can get," rather he had "more stuff along these [items] and can get more" if the undercover agent was interested.
How Did the Hacker Access Celebs Email Accounts?
The incident was neither linked to the stolen celebrity photos leaked late last year nor Sony Pictures hack, as the court document posted
by NYT indicated that Knowles allegedly hacked into email accounts of
celebrities by sending them a virus that allowed him to access their
sensitive data.
Apart from gaining access to data via a virus, Knowles also sent fake
automated text messages to the celebrities, making it look like their
account had been hacked and asking for their passwords to secure their
account.
Unfortunately, some of the celebrities replied with their passwords.
A federal criminal complaint noted his victims included movie and TV
actors, a famous singer-songwriter, a casting director, and a hip-hop
artist, but he did not identify the identity of celebrities, movies or
TV shows involved.
Knowles was held without bail after an appearance Tuesday in Manhattan federal court on criminal copyright infringement and identity theft charges, which both have a maximum jail sentence of five years.
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