LOS ANGELES – Hunter Moore, called both the “revenge porn king” and “the most hated man on the internet,” remained in custody without bail Friday morning, facing federal conspiracy and cybercrime charges that could send him and an alleged accomplice to prison for 72 years apiece if they are convicted.
How’s that for revenge?
A 13-page, 15-count federal indictment unsealed Thursday lists 54 “overt acts” supporting charges of conspiracy, unauthorized access to protected computers (hacking) and aggravated identity theft against Moore, 27, and alleged accomplice Charles “Gary” Evens, 25. The document identifies nine people the pair allegedly victimized between 2010 and 2012, though more may come forward as the case progresses.
The FBI arrested both men Thursday at their California homes. In separate arraignments Thursday afternoon, Evens pleaded not guilty and Moore declined to answer the charges.
The indictment stemmed from the operation of the website IsAnyoneUp.com. Moore founded the site in 2010 and encouraged internet users to upload explicit photographs and videos of ex-lovers, along with the individuals’ personal details, as a way of exacting revenge. The site became an underground hit right away, gaining international infamy as its “sex-shaming” archives grew and an increasing number of victims cried “foul” about private images and personally identifiable information appearing in public without their consent.
In 2011, Moore claimed to make as much as $13,000 monthly from selling advertising on the website. By 2012, the monthly income had increased to $20,000, according to a BBC report.
“I just monetize people’s mistakes that they made, and it’s kind of a shady business,” Moore told the British news organization at the time.
Shady, indeed. According to the indictment, some of the images and information posted on IAU were stolen by Evens, whom Moore paid to hack into personal computers, email accounts and other digital storage media and communications in order to round up embarrassing material. Evens allegedly “hacked into e-mail accounts belonging to hundreds of victims,” according to an FBI statement released Thursday.
Ironically, email messages Moore and Evens exchanged led to their downfall. According to the indictment, the FBI recovered electronic conversations discussing “how to hack emails” and how to cover their tracks by using PayPal “to avoid detection of their scheme and connection to each other.” Other recovered email messages include several in which Moore offers payment for specific types of images illegally obtained from specific kinds of people.
Under pressure from a variety of sources, Moore sold IAU to an anti-bullying organization in April 2012, claiming he had developed a crisis of conscience. Within months, however, he grabbed headlines again by launching an even more aggressive revenge porn website he claimed would provide maps to victims’ locations. The site did not live up to Moore’s boasts, eventually becoming an online billboard for party announcements.
[SIZE=1]Image of Hunter Moore via his Facebook page.[/SIZE]
