Hacker blackmailed 350 women into stripping on their webcams, FBI says

The FBI has arrested a 27-year-old man, who they claim hacked the accounts of Facebook users, and coerced hundreds of women into stripping while he watched via Skype.

Karen "Gary" Kazaryan, of Glendale, California, was arrested yesterday on federal computer hacking charges.

According to a Department of Justice press release, Kazaryan is alleged to have broken into victims' email and Facebook accounts, changed their passwords, and searched for naked and semi-naked photographs.

Additionally, Kazaryan is said to have scooped up other information about his victims, including their passwords, names of their friends, and other personal details.

Posing as a woman, Kazaryan would allegedly trick other potential victims into believing they were talking to one of their female friends, and persuade them to remove their clothing in front of their webcam.

Kazaryan allegedly threatened to post nude photos of some of his victims on their Facebook pages if they refused to comply with his demands.

The FBI says that it has seized approximately 3,000 compromising photos from Kazaryan's computer, and believes more than 350 women may have suffered from what the FBI has described as "sextortion".

If convicted of all counts, Kazaryan could face up to 105 years in federal prison.

The FBI is urging all women who believe they might be a victim to contact the Los Angeles Field Office at (310) 477-6565.

Read more [link to nakedsecurity.sophos.com]