A New Malden man has been jailed after he bought stolen data online which allowed him to get photos from victims' iCloud accounts.
Nathan Mannion, of New Malden, was found to be a customer of weleakinfo and had purchased stolen data from the website between November 2017 and August 2019.
The investigation began in January 2020 when the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) seized the website weleakinfo which contained illegally obtained personal credentials such as usernames and passwords.
The FBI then passed this information to the Surrey and Sussex Cyber Crime Unit, who obtained a Section 8 warrant to search Mannion's home.
In December 2020, the warrant was executed, and a computer and several hard drives were seized.
Upon reviewing the devices, officers discovered folders containing illegally downloaded data and photos from victims' iCloud accounts.
Mannion had obtained access to these accounts by purchasing the stolen usernames and passwords.
On June 13, Mannion appeared before the Guildford Magistrates Court where he pleaded guilty to the Computer Misuse Act.
As a result, he was sentenced to a 12-month community order, 12 days of rehabilitation activity, and 120 hours of unpaid work.
He was also ordered to pay £85 in costs and £95 in victim surcharge.
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