BOSTON, Feb. 4 (GeokHub) — A 26-year-old Illinois man has pleaded guilty in federal court to hacking dozens of Snapchat accounts by tricking women into sharing security codes, allowing him to access private images that prosecutors say he kept, sold, or traded online.
Kyle Svara admitted to charges including computer fraud and aggravated identity theft in a case linked to a broader investigation involving a former college athletics coach who paid for illegal access to women’s social media accounts.
Federal prosecutors said Svara used phishing techniques between May 2020 and February 2021, impersonating Snapchat support staff to deceive users into handing over one-time authentication codes. Authorities said he obtained security codes from 571 women and successfully accessed at least 59 accounts.
Once inside the accounts, prosecutors said Svara downloaded private images and promoted his hacking services on online forums, offering content for sale or exchange. Court documents show he advertised his ability to break into Snapchat accounts on platforms such as Reddit.
As part of a plea agreement, prosecutors will recommend a prison sentence of approximately three years when Svara is sentenced in May.
Svara’s attorney said his client has accepted responsibility for his actions and expressed relief at formally acknowledging wrongdoing in court.
The case emerged from a prior prosecution involving former Northeastern University track and field coach Steve Waithe, who paid Svara to hack accounts belonging to women he had coached or known personally. Waithe was sentenced in 2024 to five years in prison for related offenses involving deceptive schemes targeting young women nationwide.
Snapchat’s parent company was not accused of wrongdoing in the case.
