FBI: 'Celebgate' Nude Photo Hack May Be Huge

At least 572 unique iCloud accounts accessed from Chicago: documents
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 10, 2015 6:50 AM CDT
FBI: 'Celebgate' Nude Photo Hack May Be Huge
Jennifer Lawrence arrives at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating "China: Through the Looking Glass" on May 4, 2015, in New York.   (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

FBI agents seized computers, cellphones, hard drives, and more during a Chicago search tied to last summer's "Celebgate" photo hack, according to unsealed documents. Agents executed search warrants at two locations—a brick bungalow and an apartment in Chicago's South Side—on Oct. 16, reports the Chicago Sun-Times. No criminal charges have been filed, though police suspect individuals inside accessed far more celebrity email and Apple iCloud accounts than previously thought. An IP address in one home, traced to Emilio Herrera, 30, was used to access 572 unique iCloud accounts—an average of six times each—between May 2013 and Aug. 31, 2014. NBC News reports Herrera has not been identified as a suspect. The same computer made nearly 5,000 attempts to reset 1,987 other iCloud passwords of "celebrities, models, or their friends and families," according to federal records.

Another 330 iCloud accounts were accessed from a computer at the apartment. The initials of just 19 celebrities whose accounts were accessed are listed in the newly uncovered documents, including A.S., C.H., H.S., J.M., O.W., A.K., E.B., J.L., and A.H., reports the New York Daily News. Known victims include Christina Hendricks, Hope Solo, Olivia Wilde, Anna Kendrick, Jennifer Lawrence, and Amber Heard. Records list another 11 celebrities as having accounts "accessed or attempted to be accessed." An affidavit describes an FBI interview with J.L., in which she became "very distraught." She "stated she was having an anxiety attack and was visibly shaken," an agent wrote. Documents also note several victims were locked out of their accounts before the leaks and reset their passwords with provided instructions. Agents believe the hackers used "phishing" emails to gain their login information. (Click for a list of 27 celebs who've been hacked.)

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