LOS ANGELES
An Oregon man plead guilty to hacking and getting 448 usernames and passwords for about 363-e-mail accounts, including victims who were members of the entertainment industry in Los Angeles, according to officials.
By illegally accessing the e-mail accounts, Andrew Helton obtained 161 sexually explicit, nude and/or partially nude images of approximately 13 victims, some of whom were celebrities, officials said.
“The thought of a stranger accessing your private communications for sport or monetary gain can be devastating,” said David Bowdich, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office. “This insidious crime has distressed scores of average individuals, as well as celebrity victims.
Helton, 29, of Portland, plead guilty Thursday to a felony violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, specifically a charge of unauthorized access to a protected computer to obtain information.
U. S. District Judge John A. Kronstadt scheduled a sentencing hearing for June 2.
Helton is facing up to five years in prison.
“In today’s digital world, people use their e-mail and online accounts to store photos, music, notes, calendars, contacts, financial, and health information,” said U.S. Attorney Eileen M. Decker.
According to his plea agreement, from March 2011 to May 2013, Helton engaged in a phishing scheme to obtain usernames and passwords for his victims.
He sent e-mails to victims that appeared to be from Apple or Google and asked victims to “verify” their accounts by clicking on a link.
Once the victims clicked on the link, they were taken to a malicious website that looked like an Apple or Google login page. When the victims entered usernames and passwords on the malicious website, Helton then had access to the victims’ e-mail accounts.