Man pleads guilty in celebrity online hacking case
HARRISBURG, Pa. – A Pennsylvania man has pleaded guilty to hacking into the email and online accounts of several female celebrities and stealing private information, including nude photos and videos.
Lancaster resident Ryan Collins, 36, was accused of gaining access to more than 100 Google and Apple accounts from November 2012 to September 2014. Many of those accounts belonged to famous women.
He pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court to one count of gaining unauthorized access to a protected computer to obtain information.
Collins admitted that from November 2012 until the beginning of September 2014, he used a phishing scheme to get usernames and passwords from his victims.
He sent e-mails to them that appeared to be from Apple or Google and asked them to provide their usernames and passwords. When the victims responded, Collins then had access to the victims’ e-mail accounts.
After illegally accessing the e-mail accounts, Collins obtained personal information including nude photographs and videos. In some instances, Collins would use a software program to download the entire contents of the victims’ Apple iCloud backups.
The charge against Collins stems from the investigation into the leaks of photographs of numerous female celebrities in September 2014 known as “Celebgate.” However, investigators have not uncovered any evidence linking Collins to the actual leaks or that Collins shared or uploaded the information he obtained.
Many of Collins’ victims were members of the entertainment industry in Los Angeles. By illegally accessing the e-mail accounts, Collins accessed at least 50 iCloud accounts and 72 Gmail accounts, most of which belonged to female celebrities.
No celebrities were identified in a plea agreement filed in March. Prosecutors say there was no evidence that Collins posted any of the pilfered images online or shared any information he obtained.
No date was set for sentencing. Collins’ attorney didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment Tuesday.
This story was originally published May 24, 2016 at 12:52 PM with the headline "Man pleads guilty in celebrity online hacking case."