Intimate Photos of iCloud Users Stolen by Hackers

A guy from Southern California has confessed to working with others to hack into hundreds of Apple iCloud accounts, mostly to take nude photos of young women. On Friday, October 15, Hao Kuo Chi, a 40-year-old resident of La Puenta in Los Angeles County, pled guilty to counts of computer fraud and conspiracy. 

Hao Kuo Chi was detained in the United States for hacking into Apple iCloud customers’ accounts and taking their personal photographs and videos. Chi “particularly sought for the nude pictures and videos of young women” once he got into the accounts, according to a filing from the US Department of Justice. He then passed them on to other conspirators, some of whom subsequently disclosed the photos and films to the public domain.

Chi, according to authorities, has been a member of a nudes peddling ring since 2014. According to an accompanying plea deal, Chi and others would sell, exchange, or keep the naked photographs and videos after confiscating them.

Chi used the name “icloudripper4you” to market his nude-stealing services online, describing himself as a type of “hacker-for-hire.” According to court filings, Chi and his co-conspirators utilized a foreign-based encrypted email service to disguise their unlawful operations. The offenders’ naughty films or photographs were dubbed as “wins.”