Kwamaine Jerell Ford has pleaded guilty to hacking celebrity Apple accounts and using them to go on a ‘spending spree’.
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Celebrity Spending Spree
Starting March 2015, Mr. Ford obtained login data for Apple accounts through phishing. His main targets were NBA and NFL athletes, and rappers. Through thousands of phishing emails pretending to be Apple customer service, he got the victims to give him their login credentials.
Ford tricked his victims into providing their Apple account passwords and stole sensitive, personal information from the accounts. After stealing credit card numbers belonging to several professional athletes, he brazenly spent thousands of dollars on personal expenses charged to the athletes’ accounts.
U.S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak
Then, he logged into their accounts and tried to change the password, contact email address, and security challenge questions. This means the victims couldn’t log into their accounts anymore unless they called Apple to verify their identity.
Mr. Ford pleaded guilty to one count of computer fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. Sentencing is scheduled for June 24, 2019, at 10:30 before U.S. District Judge Timothy C. Batten Sr. This case is being investigated by the FBI.