Originating in India An employee of the Singapore Air Force was sentenced to prison for phishing women’s intimate photos

An Indian man who works for the Singapore Air Force was given an 11-month prison term on Wednesday for obtaining women’s private photos on social media by hacking their login credentials. 26-year-old K. Eshwaran entered a guilty plea to 10 Computer Misuse Act offenses. According to Channel News Asia, 21 further counts were taken into consideration for sentence.

He emailed 22 people phishing URLs between 2019 and 2023 in an attempt to get their email, cloud server, and social media login credentials. Prosecutors said that Eshwaran specifically targeted victims that he knew in person or victims whose private photos had been uploaded to an adult site.

Given the sexual nature of his offenses, the prosecution asked for a court order to safeguard the identities of all of his victims. Eshwaran would email phishing links to victims under the guise of a “helpful netizen,” claiming that their private photos had been uploaded online, according to the prosecution.

In several instances, he used a website to provide potential login credentials based on information he knew about the victim’s social media accounts, and he then used trial and error to get access to their accounts. He would go through the accounts after he was inside to check whether the victims had any private photos of themselves saved.

Regarding one victim, Eshwaran requested access to the pictures since she was aware that she had participated in modeling sessions where she was either fully clothed or in underwear. He also often obtained unauthorized access to the social media profiles of guys. Then, pretending to be the account holder, he would get in touch with ladies he believed to be in close relationships with the guy and request personal pictures.

Even though Eshwaran was free on bail and was the subject of an investigation for his prior phishing attempts, he still committed crimes in 2023. He was able to get unauthorized access to his victim’s early 20s lady Instagram and Snapchat accounts in January of that year.

He sent her further phishing links to get login information for her other online accounts after discovering her private photos on her Snapchat account. The internet protocol address that was utilized to gain unauthorized access to the accounts in this and other instances was linked to Eshwaran’s residence.

When his victims discovered they were being phished or that their accounts had been hacked, they also filed police complaints. The prosecution asked for a sentence of 11 to 16 months in prison. Joshua Phang, the deputy public prosecutor, contended that Eshwaran committed deliberate and intricate offenses.

Eshwaran was a first-time offender, according to defense attorney Mervyn Tan, and his offenses were “an act of mischief, malicious though it may be.” He informed the court that Eshwaran was a regular member of the Republic of Singapore Air Force, functioning as an engineer.

Tan requested District Judge Wong Peck to consider this as a mitigating factor, stating that Eshwaran’s offenses would probably have a negative impact on his career. He said that Eshwaran’s parents had “taken him to task” and that the family had “come together” as a result of his transgressions.

The court upheld the prosecution’s recommended sentence and said that Eshwaran’s actions had significantly more aggravating than mitigating characteristics. Eshwaran’s appeal for a postponement was accepted by the court, and as a result, he will begin serving his sentence on June 19.

Tan informed the judge that he required more time to take care of personal business and assist Eshwaran’s wife during her confinement since she had recently given birth in early May.