Teenage blackmailer posted nude photos and videos of women hacked from Snapchat accounts

A teenage hacker who posted nude photos and videos of women stolen from their Snapchat accounts in a blackmail plot was being sentenced on Friday.

Jasin Bushi, 18, from Camden, targeted seven victims aged 17 to 35 whose horrified family, friends and colleagues saw the “cruel and callous” posts.

One woman burst into tears and ran out of her office when images appeared online while she was at work.

Bushi - described by police as “abhorrent” - would first gain control of accounts by changing login details to prevent them regaining access.

He posed as the victim on Snapchat, messaging friends and asking to borrow £200 or £300 to help pay rent.

When challenged, Bushi - then 17 - admitted not being the account holder, Wood Green Crown Court heard.

But he stated if money was not transferred to PayPal, naked pictures would be sent to all the victim’s contacts.

He followed through with the threat in relation to a number of women, publicly posting intimate pictures or videos found in the private area of their profiles between December 2020 and February 2021.

The Met’s Cyber Crime Unit launched an investigation in May 2021.

Detectives linked the fake PayPal accounts to Bushi via two mobile numbers.

A raid on his home uncovered a mobile phone with some of the victims’ banking details, email addresses and passwords.

A note read: “Hey, I’m struggling with rent. I’m literally £300 short and I’m probably going to get kicked out if I can’t pay. I’ll pay back Monday.”

Bushi pleaded guilty to unauthorised access to a computer to facilitate the commission of an offence, fraud by false representation, possession of articles used in fraud and three counts of blackmail.

One victim, whose loved ones saw the posts, suffered psychological problems and humiliation. She withdrew from family and socially at work, thinking staff had lost respect for her.

The woman said: “Snapchat was a social media platform where I had years of stored treasured memories of photos and videos of my child, and I now feel nauseated using the app.

“I had a friend who, thinking she was helping me, lost a significant amount of money due to this incident and I feel indebted to her.

“I was fortunate enough to not be physically injured by this incident, but the long lasting psychological effects impact me every day, and I feel that this is likely to be the case for a long time in the future.”

Another victim found out about the private intimate images on Snapchat while she was at work.

She told police: “I felt embarrassed, I left the office straight away in tears and had a few days off work because I felt I couldn’t face the people who have seen those private images. The feeling still haunts me now of when I first saw those photos on my public story, I would never wish that feeling upon anyone.”

Bushi attended two voluntary police interviews where he answered no comment to all questions. He was charged in February.

Detective Constable Ed Sehmer, of the Met’s Cyber Crime Unit, said: “Bushi completely violated the victims’ privacy all in an attempt to make a quick bit of cash.

“When his deception did not work, he resorted to blackmail and posted private intimate videos and photos of the victims when he did not get his own way. He is extremely cruel, callous and was absolutely devastating for the victims.

“I am pleased Bushi admitted to his abhorrent crimes and will have to face the consequences for his actions.

“I’d like to thank the victims for courageously helping us with our investigation and I hope Bushi’s conviction offers them a small measure of comfort.

“This crime type often goes underreported as victims can often feel shame or embarrassment. There is nothing to feel ashamed about. I urge anyone to come forward and report to the police if this has happened to you. We will fully support you and treat you with sensitivity and dignity.”

More than 80 per cent of the referrals into the unit’s Protect team relate to social media account hacks.

DC Sehmer added: “To help prevent social media account compromises, I recommend everyone uses two factor authentication and does not reuse passwords for various social media accounts.”