A 19-year-old California man was arrested on charges of alleged "sextortion" for hacking the computer of Cassidy Wolf, the current Miss Teen USA. Jared James Abrahams of Temecula, California was seeking to blackmail Wolf by threatening to publish naked images of her, the FBI said, as reported by NBC News reported.
Abrahams was charged with extortion and cybercrimes, and has since surrendered to FBI agents, the agency's spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said. He hab been accused of hacking the computers of several young women, including Wolf who had been crowned Miss Teen USA last month in the Bahamas.
Wolf told reporters that she received an anonymous email in which the sender claimed to have obtained nude photos of her by hacking into her personal computer's camera. The sender threatened to release those photos publicly unless Wolf provided him with additional nude pictures or video of herself, she said in various interviews.
"Abrahams used malicious software to disguise his identity in order to capture nude photos or videos of victims through remote operation of cameras on their home computers without their consent," wrote the criminal complaint.
A search of Abrahams' home found the "hacking software, as well as images of Wolf, and videos of other victims, Eimiller said.
An FBI analysis of Wolf's computer revealed "evidence consistent with malware and remote administration tools later linked to Abrahams."
Abrahams acknowledged that he hacked his victims' computers and watched his victims undress, using the images to then "sextort" his victims, according to the criminal complaint.
