Illinois Man Pleads Guilty to Phishing 4,500 Snapchat Users to Steal Private Photos

An Illinois man pleaded guilty to running a targeted social-engineering campaign from May 2020–February 2021 that used anonymized phone numbers and impersonation to trick Snapchat users into providing one-time verification codes, enabling unauthorized access to at least 595 accounts and theft, retention, sale, and distribution of private images; the operation involved texting over 4,500 people and is linked to another convicted actor, with sentencing scheduled for May 18, 2026.