SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — In a cautionary tale for social-networkers, a California man has admitted using personal information he gleaned from Facebook to hack into the e-mail accounts of dozens of women.
There are victims in 17 states, including Washington, as well as Great Britain.
The California attorney general’s office said Friday that 23-year-old George Bronk would scan the “sent” folder once he commandeered a woman’s e-mail account, looking for nude or seminude photos and videos. He then would forward the pictures to the woman’s entire address book.
Bronk coerced one woman into sending him more explicit photographs by threatening to distribute the pictures he already had. One victim told authorities the intrusion felt like “virtual rape.”
Bronk, who lives in a Sacramento suburb, pleaded guilty Thursday to seven felonies. He faces six years in prison.
