A 30-year-old man from Chicago, Joseph Alexander Valdez, has been sentenced to eight years in prison for conducting a Snapchat phishing scheme that victimized more than 700 women, CBS News reports.
The US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida said in a press release, “Court documents reflect that between June 2021, and December 2022, Valdez identified college-aged females located throughout the United States—including two students at Florida State University and one student at the University of Florida—to deceive them into providing their Snapchat passwords."
The press release adds, “Once he accessed the victims’ Snapchat accounts, Valdez took screenshots of the victims’ subscriber information—such as their name, phone number, email address—and downloaded their saved photographs, including private, nude photographs. In other instances, Valdez communicated in online chatrooms and forums with other individuals who used a similar scheme to unlawfully obtain the victims’ private, nude photographs stored on the victims’ Snapchat accounts and other social media platforms. These other individuals traded and shared photographs with Valdez.”
Acting Special Agent in Charge Mark Dargis of the FBI Jacksonville Division stated, “Every day, thousands of unsuspecting social media users fall victim to online scammers, who are using a variety of sophisticated guises and techniques to collect personal information about their victims. This sentencing exemplifies the commitment of the FBI to protect Americans and investigate and pursue those who seek to exploit them. We encourage anyone who believes they are a victim of an online scam or fraud to immediately report the incident to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov.”
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