Man pleads guilty to hacking nearly 600 women’s Snapchat accounts

An Illinois man pleaded guilty to hacking nearly 600 women’s Snapchat accounts to steal nude photos that he kept, sold, or traded online, including accounts he compromised at the request of a former university track coach who was later convicted of sextortion.

26-year-old defendant Kyle Svara admitted in federal court in Boston to phishing access codes from approximately 570 victims between May 2020 and February 2021, and accessed at least 59 Snapchat accounts without permission to download private photos.

According to court documents, Svara used social engineering tactics to obtain victims’ emails, phone numbers, and Snapchat usernames, then texted more than 4,500 targets requesting access codes while impersonating Snap representatives. Using these tactics, he successfully harvested credentials from roughly 570 victims and accessed at least 59 accounts without permission to steal compromising images.

Svara advertised his “services” on multiple online platforms, trading stolen content, offering to “get into girls snap accounts” for clients, and asking potential clients to contact him through the encrypted messaging app Kik.

One of his clients, former Northeastern University track and field coach Steve Waithe, hired Svara to hack Snapchat accounts of students at Northeastern and members of the women’s track and field and soccer teams. Waithe was sentenced in March 2024 to five years in prison for cyberstalking, cyber fraud, and sextortion after targeting at least 128 women.

Between paid hacking jobs, Svara also independently hacked into the accounts of women in Plainfield, Illinois, and students at Colby College in Maine.

Svara now faces charges of aggravated identity theft (carrying a minimum sentence of two years), wire fraud (up to 20 years in prison), computer fraud (up to five years), and making false statements related to child pornography (maximum of eight years).

“When Svara was interviewed by investigators, he falsely stated that he did not know anything about hacking Snapchat,” the Justice Department said on Thursday.

“Additionally, he falsely stated that had no interest in child pornography and had never actively sought out or accessed child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Contrary to these statements, the defendant collected, distributed and solicited CSAM.”

Svara is scheduled for sentencing in federal court before U.S. District Court Judge Brian E. Murphy on May 18th.

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