Scammer Infiltrated Thousands of iCloud Accounts to Find Nude Photos

A criminal from Los Angeles has pled guilty to felony charges after breaking into thousands of iCloud accounts to hunt down nude photos of women, reports The Los Angeles Times.

iCloud General Feature
Hao Kuo Chi collected more than 620,000 private photos and videos by impersonating Apple customer support staff and sending out emails to trick his victims into providing Apple IDs and passwords. Chi used social engineering and phishing schemes to coerce his victims, and he did not breach Apple's ‌iCloud‌ protections.

Chi accessed photos and videos from at least 306 victims across the United States, and most of them were young women. Some of the victims were attacked at the request of people that Chi met online after he marketed himself as "icloudripper4you," a service that could break into ‌iCloud‌ accounts to steal photos and videos.

His unknown co-conspirators would ask Chi to hack a specific ‌iCloud‌ account, and he would respond with a Dropbox link. Chi operated two Gmail addresses "applebackupicloud" and "backupagenticloud," where the FBI found more than 500,000 emails with approximately 4,700 ‌iCloud‌ user IDs and passwords that he had been sent from his victims.

Chi's scam fell apart after he hacked the ‌iCloud‌ account of an unnamed public figure in March 2018 and the photos ended up on pornographic websites. The FBI launched an investigation, and found that a log-in to the victim's ‌iCloud‌ account had come from Chi's home.

Chi has pled guilty to one count of conspiracy and three counts of gaining unauthorized access to a protected computer, and he now faces up to five years in prison for each crime. In a phone call with The Los Angeles Times, Chi said that he was "remorseful" for what he did, but claimed he had a family to support. He said that he was afraid public exposure of his crimes would "ruin [his] whole life."

The unauthorized ‌iCloud‌ access perpetrated by Chi is similar to a 2014 attack that saw hackers gain access to celebrity iCloud accounts through their username and password.

After that incident, Apple bolstered ‌iCloud‌ account security, offering two-factor authentication and sending emails whenever there's a new login to an ‌iCloud‌ account. The people involved in Chi's attack likely did not have two-factor authentication enabled.

Apple recommends two-factor authentication for all Apple IDs to add extra security, and it offers a support document on how to avoid phishing schemes like the one used by Chi.

Tag: iCloud

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Coming Soon With These 14 New Features

Friday July 4, 2025 1:05 pm PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are just over two months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models. Latest Rumors These rumors surfaced in June and July:Apple logo repositioned: Apple's logo may have a lower position on the back of the iPhone 17 Pro models, compared to previous...
iphone 16 pro models 1

Here's How the iPhone 17 Pro Max Will Compare to the iPhone 17 Pro

Saturday July 5, 2025 1:00 pm PDT by
Apple should unveil the iPhone 17 series in September, and there might be one bigger difference between the Pro and Pro Max models this year. As always, the Pro Max model will be larger than the Pro model:iPhone 17 Pro: 6.3-inch display iPhone 17 Pro Max: 6.9-inch displayGiven the Pro Max is physically larger than the Pro, it has more internal space, allowing for a larger battery and...
iPhone Car Key Kia

Here's Which Vehicles Offer iPhone Car Keys

Sunday July 6, 2025 3:03 pm PDT by
In 2020, Apple added a digital car key feature to its Wallet app, allowing users to lock, unlock, and start a compatible vehicle with an iPhone or Apple Watch. The feature is currently offered by select automakers, including Audi, BMW, Hyundai, Kia, Genesis, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, and a handful of others, and it is set to expand further. Apple has a web page with a list of vehicle models that ...
imac video apple feature

Apple Launching These 15+ Products Later This Year

Sunday July 6, 2025 8:05 am PDT by
The calendar has turned to July, meaning that 2025 is now more than half over. And while the summer months are often quiet for Apple, the company still has more than a dozen products coming later this year, according to rumors. Below, we have outlined at least 15 new Apple products that are expected to launch later this year, along with key rumored features for each. iPhone 17 Series iPho...
iOS 26 Feature

Everything New in iOS 26 Beta 3

Monday July 7, 2025 1:20 pm PDT by
Apple is continuing to refine and update iOS 26, and beta three features smaller changes than we saw in beta 2, plus further tweaks to the Liquid Glass design. Apple is gearing up for the next phase of beta testing, and the company has promised that a public beta is set to come out in July. Transparency In some apps like Apple Music, Podcasts, and the App Store, Apple has toned down the...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro to Reverse iPhone X Design Decision

Monday July 7, 2025 9:46 am PDT by
Since the iPhone X in 2017, all of Apple's highest-end iPhone models have featured either stainless steel or titanium frames, but it has now been rumored that this design decision will be coming to an end with the iPhone 17 Pro models later this year. In a post on Chinese social media platform Weibo today, the account Instant Digital said that the iPhone 17 Pro models will have an aluminum...
iphone 17 pro render majin bu

New iPhone 17 Pro Renders Highlight Apple Logo and MagSafe Design Changes

Sunday July 6, 2025 8:43 pm PDT by
New renders today provide the best look yet relocated Apple logo and redesigned MagSafe magnet array of the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max. Image via Majin Bu. Several of the design changes coming to the iPhone 17 Pro model have been rumored for some time, such as the elongated camera bump that spans the full width of the device, with the LiDAR Scanner and flash moving to the right side. ...
Prime Day 25 Feature Warm Triad

The Best Early Prime Day Deals on Apple Products

Saturday July 5, 2025 7:22 am PDT by
Amazon is soon to be back with its annual summertime Prime Day event, lasting for four days from July 8-11, the longest Prime Day yet. As it does every year, Prime Day offers shoppers a huge selection of deals across Amazon's storefront, and there are already many deals you can get on sale ahead of the event. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a ...
airpods pro 2

AirPods Pro 3 to Help Maintain Apple's Place in Earbud Market Amid Increasing Low-Cost Competition

Thursday July 3, 2025 7:25 am PDT by
Apple's position as the dominant force in the global true wireless stereo (TWS) earbud market is expected to continue through 2025, according to Counterpoint Research. The forecast outlines a 3% year-over-year increase in global TWS unit shipments for 2025, signaling a transition from rapid growth to a more mature phase for the category. While Apple is set to remain the leading brand by...

Top Rated Comments

ComRadMac Avatar
51 months ago
"he was afraid public exposure of his crimes would "ruin [his] whole life."

Yes, that is the plan. Let's hope it works.
Score: 48 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JMacHack Avatar
51 months ago

uploading nudies to iCloud has got to be the most moronic computer activity a person can do
Incorrect, giving out the password to your cloud-hosted nudies is more stupid.
Score: 28 Votes (Like | Disagree)
iObama Avatar
51 months ago
"I had a family to support."

Wonder what they're gonna do now that you're in prison, *******.
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
daved2424 Avatar
51 months ago
To all the smart alecs on here, not everyone is as tech savvy as you and I. It is an unfortunate fact that some people are easy targets. Victim blaming is not big and it’s not clever, no matter how “dumb” you think the victims are.

Chances are though, they have better interpersonal skills than the lot you and are quite likely just nicer human beings.
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
LukeDizzle Avatar
51 months ago
Link?

Asking for a friend
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Le Big Mac Avatar
51 months ago
At least 620,000 photos/videos of people having sex have been uploaded to iCloud? Come on people!
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)