A CRUEL teenager hacked a mum’s Snapchat account and sent naked photos to her friends, family and even her boss.
Bryony-Rose McQue was “devastated” after learning she had fallen victim to Jasin Bushi’s scheme to swindle some extra cash.
Jasin Bushi gained access to his victim’s accounts to swindle some extra cash[/caption]
One of the messages the teenager sent from his victim’s account[/caption]
The 32-year-old was travelling from Yorkshire to Plymouth, Devon, when the “extremely callous” teen gained access to her account.
Not long after arriving home, Bryony’s partner received a Snapchat message, supposedly from her, asking to borrow some money for an unpaid bill.
Slowly, her loved ones started texting her to say they too had received requests – before receiving explicit images of her.
Her friends, family members and her manager all received the same pictures.
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Bryony, who says she was worried about being laughed at, summoned the courage to contact the police and got the Snapchat profile shut down.
And, two years later, 18-year-old Bushi, from Camden, north London, has been jailed for his “cruel” plot.
He hacked the accounts of seven victims then changed the passwords and posed as the owner to message pals asking for rent money – usually £200 or £300.
In one message, he wrote: “I hate to ask but I’m struggling with rent. I’m more than £300 short and I’m probably going to get kicked out tonight if I can’t pay.
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“Is there any way I could borrow any money to help with my situation please? I could pay you back within the next two days.”
If anyone challenged him, he threatened to post nude photos found in the private area of the accounts to everyone in their contact list if they didn’t send funds via PayPal.
Bryony, who works in waste management, said: “My friend sent me a screenshot questioning the bank account I was asking to be paid into. It was the scammer’s mother’s name.
“I called the police and shut down the Snapchat account in my name.
“From details of the IP addresses, Manchester Police took the complaint, along with many others, and the scammer was found.
“He had many explicit pictures of women on his laptop along with their social media account details.
“We worked together and made statements and he has now been jailed for two years. He was 16 when he fleeced me.”
The feeling of when I first saw those photos on my public story still haunts me now. I would never wish that upon anyone.
She added: “It’s worth [reporting] this [sort of thing] because something can come of it.
“I wasn’t going to tell the police because I thought they would laugh at me.
“I was devastated at the time, even though I can laugh now. But look at the result of it.”
All seven of Bushi’s victims, who were aged between 17 and 35, were hacked between December 2020 and February 2021.
Cops said there were many more victims but they were unwilling to support a police investigation.
In May 2022, 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 denied three counts of disclosing private sexual photographs or films, with intent to cause distress, which were left to lie on file.
Bushi was sentenced to two years in jail.
HACKING HELL
One of his victims, whose friends, family and colleagues saw the posts, 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 about the intimate photos of her being shared while she was at work.
“I felt embarrassed and I left the office straight away in tears,” she said.
“I 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, the 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.
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“This crime type often goes unreported 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.”
