SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA – A 40-year-old woman admitted that she used spy software purchased on the Internet 
that allowed her to secretly record phone calls and intercept texts, voicemail, e-mail appointments, digital addresses, photographs, videos and conversations, including sensitive law enforcement communications.
Kristin Nyunt, of Monterey, plead guilty in federal court in San Jose on Monday to wiretapping charges, federal officials said.
Nyunt is the ex-wife of John Nyunt, a former Pacific Grove police commander who also faced state and federal charges.
The San Jose Mercury News reported that the two cases were intertwined. In April, John Nyunt plead guilty to threatening a witness, one count of being an accessory after the fact to theft and burglary, and one count of being an accomplice to the burglary of a business, the newspaper reported.
In May, he admitted to federal extortion and fraud charges. He is serving two years in federal prison.
According to the FBI, the newspaper stated that John Nyunt declined to investigate a crime victim’s complaint and instead had the woman pay $10,000 to a bogus investigations company run by the couple. While investigating Kristin Nyunt’s case, prosecutors found a recording in which her husband threatened to kill her and any police officers who tried to arrest him.
In pleading guilty, Kristin Nyunt admitted that from 2010 to 2012 she possessed spy software, including Mobistealth, StealthGenie, and mSpy, to surreptitious interception of wire, oral, and electronic communications.
She purchased and downloaded this software on-line, via the Internet, and installed the software on cell phones and computers that she intended to intercept.
The communications she intercepted included private e-mail communication and texts between individuals who were unaware that she was monitoring them. In one instance, she was paid money by the husband of a victim to spy on her and intercept her private communications using this software, officials said.
She also intercepted included sensitive law enforcement communication. She did this by secretly installing spyware on the cell phone of a police officer without his consent or knowledge, officials said.
Previously, on Sept. 29, 2014, Hammad Akbar, 31, of Lahore, Pakistan, the chief executive officer of InvoCode Pvt Ltd, the company that advertises and sells StealthGenie online, was named in a federal indictment.
Akbar and his co-conspirators allegedly created the spyware, which could intercept communications from mobile phones, including Apple’s iPhone, Google’s Android, and Blackberry Limited’s Blackberry.
Kristin Nyunt pleaded guilty in state court earlier this year to burglary, forgery, identity theft, and unlawful computer access charges. She plead guilty Monday to one count of interception of communications and one count of possession of interception devices.
She faces up to five years in prison for each count. Nyunt will be sentenced in February.
The investigation of Nyunt by the FBI and investigators from the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office.
How To Remove a Mobile Device Spyware
If you believe your phone may contain a mobile device spyware app, the best option is to conduct a “factory reset” of the phone. When a reset takes place, the phone is restored to its original condition, according to the FBI
Please be advised that this means any and all data and apps installed after purchase will be removed from the phone, including all stored information, so back-up data, the FBI stated.
To learn more about cyber security threats and scams please visit the FBI’s Cyber Crime section at www.fbi.gov or IC3.gov.