Man pleads guilty to Snapchat hacking targeting NEU students

An Illinois man who was accused of phishing the Snapchat access codes of hundreds of women to steal nude photos, including to sell to a Northeastern track coach, pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday.

Kyle Svara, 27, pleaded guilty to aggravated identity theft, wire fraud, computer fraud, conspiracy to commit computer fraud, and false statements related to child pornography, the U.S. Attorney’s office said.

Between 2020 and 2021, Svara would advertise on internet forums, including Reddit, that he could “get into girls snap accounts” for others and provide content “for you or trade,” prosecutors said. Using personal information, he would try to gain access to women’s Snapchat accounts before posing as a representative of Snap Inc. to obtain security codes sent to the women. 

He texted more than 4,500 women for the codes, which approximately 570 women provided, prosecutors said. According to the charging documents, Svara accessed accounts of at least 59 women and downloaded nude or semi-nude images. He then sold or traded the images in online forums or for people who had hired him to hack the account.

When interviewed, Svara denied hacking Snapchats and “falsely stated that he had no interest in child pornography and had never actively sought out or accessed child sexual abuse material,” prosecutors said. “Contrary to these statements, the defendant collected, distributed and solicited CSAM.”

Former Northeastern coach involved in Snapchat hacking scheme

Steve Waithe, a former track and field coach at Northeastern, was named was one of Svara’s co-conspirators. He allegedly hired and paid Svara to hack the Snapchat accounts of women he coached or had other relationships with, prosecutors said. 

Waithe pleaded guilty in 2023 to multiple charges, including that he set up sham social media accounts and used other ploys to trick women to obtain nude images. Waithe coached at Northeastern from October 2018 to February 2019, when he was fired after the university investigated allegations of inappropriate conduct toward female athletes, The Boston Globe reported in 2021.

While at Northeastern, he requested the cellphones of female student-athletes under the pretense of filming them at practice and meets, but he instead covertly sent himself explicit photos of the women that had previously been saved on their phones, the Associated Press reported. He was sentenced to five years in prison in 2024.

Svara also targeted women around the Plainfield, Illinois area and students at Colby College in Waterville, Maine, prosecutors said. 

Svara is expected to be sentenced in May. The identify theft charge carries a sentence of at least two years in prison, one year of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine. The wire fraud charges carries of a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000. 

The charges of computer fraud and conspiracy to commit computer fraud provide for a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. The charge of false statements carries the same sentence.

Anyone who is a potential victim in the case can contact federal law enforcement by completing this form.

Molly Farrar is a general assignment reporter for Boston.com, focusing on education, politics, crime, and more.