Teenager, 18, jailed after hacking women's Snapchat accounts and threatened to post nudes

26 July 2022, 16:30

An "extremely cruel, callous" teenager has been jailed for hacking the Snapchat accounts of multiple women and tricking their loved ones into giving him money.

Jasin Bushi, 18, logged into seven women's Snapchat accounts between December 2020 and February 2021.

He changed the victims' login details to lock them out before posing as them while messaging their friends with requests for about £200 or £300 for rent.

In one note, he said: "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."

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When some friends challenged the messages, Bushi admitted not being the victim, but said if money was not sent to his PayPal account he would send nude pictures of the victim to all their contacts.

Intimate pictures or videos of the victims, aged between 17 and 35, were posted on a number of occasions and seen by the victim's friends, family and colleagues.

Bushi denied actually posting them, which the judge accepted.

One victim, whose friends, family and colleagues saw the posts, said she has felt humiliation and shame when facing family, has withdrawn socially at work and thinks her staff have lost respect for her.

She 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 private intimate images of her were being posted in Snapchat after colleagues informed her.

She said: "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."

Detective Constable Ed Sehmer, investigating officer from 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.

"He is extremely cruel, callous and it was absolutely devastating for the victims who had their intimate images publicly posted.

"I'd like to thank the victims for courageously helping us with our investigation and I hope Bush'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."

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.

He pleaded not guilty to three counts of disclosing private sexual photographs or films, with intent to cause distress. These charges were left to lie on file.

Bushi, of Aldenham Street, Camden, was sentenced to two years in prison at Wood Green Crown Court on Monday.