After pleading guilty to conspiracy and computer fraud in October 2021, a California man who hacked thousands of Apple iCloud accounts was sentenced to 8 years in jail.
Hao Kuo Chi, 41, of La Puente, California, began selling himself as “icloudripper4you” in September 2014, claiming to be capable to hacking iCloud accounts and stealing whatever stored in the associated iCloud storage (in what he referred to as “ripping”).
“From his computer, this man waged a terror campaign, inflicting fear and grief to hundreds of people,” FBI agent David Walker said.
“By exposing these cybercriminals and bringing them to prison, the FBI is committed to protecting the American people.”
According to court records, Chi used emails to mimic Apple customer service agents and deceive targets into turning over their Apple IDs and passwords in order to hack a targeted account.
He would hunt for and steal nude images and films from victims’ online storage (referred to as “wins”) after compromising an iCloud account, then share them with accomplices who later released them online.
Chi also uploaded some of the compromising photographs and videos without his victims’ knowledge on a now-defunct revenge porn website (Anon-IB) with the intent of “intimidating, harassing, or embarrassment.”
Hundreds of iCloud accounts have been hacked.
Chi got illegal access to hundreds of targets’ iCloud accounts from all over the US, including Arizona, California, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Texas, until he was apprehended.
“The iCloud passwords of around 4,700 victims were found in Chi’s email accounts. These accounts also revealed that he had transmitted over 300 times to conspirators content taken from victims “The Department of Justice made the announcement today.
On cloud and physical storage, he stored 3.5 terabytes of stolen content from over 500 victims, with around 1 terabyte of cloud storage dedicated to stolen sexual images and films.
“Chi exploited hundreds of women around the country, putting their safety and reputations in jeopardy,” said U.S. Attorney Roger Handberg.
“This sentence underscores the US Attorney’s Office’s determination to hold cybercriminals accountable for their crimes.”
