Hacker Who Phished $320K From Athletes, Rappers Sent To Jail

ATLANTA — A metro Atlanta man who hacked into more than 100 Apple accounts belonging to high-profile professional athletes and rappers has been sentenced to federal prison. Kwamaine Jerell Ford, 27, spent nearly $325,000 using stolen financial information from several victims.

Beginning in March 2015, Ford targeted college and pro athletes, including NBA and NFL players, and rappers in a “phishing” scheme, sending thousands of phishing emails to victims from email accounts he set up to spoof legitimate Apple accounts. Posing as an Apple customer support representative, Ford requested the victims send him their username and password or answers to security challenge questions, which Ford claimed was needed either to reset their Apple accounts or to access videos that individuals were purportedly trying to send the victims.

More than 100 victims provided their login credentials for Apple accounts based on the phishing scheme.

Ford then reset their passwords and changed their credentials and contact information. The victims could not log into their own accounts unless they contacted Apple by phone and proved their identity. Apple records showed hundreds of unauthorized logins to victim Apple accounts.

Ford then found their credit card information, and charged $322,567 over a three-year period, including thousands of dollars in flights, car travel, hotels, retail purchases, restaurants, and cash transfers.

“Ford targeted celebrities and professional athletes in his identity theft scheme and used credit card information stolen from these victims to fund his personal lifestyle,” said U.S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak.

“In today’s high tech world, citizens entrust their personal information to a number of service providers and expect that information to be protected,” said Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “Unfortunately, identity thieves are becoming more creative and more devious.”

Ford was sentenced to three years and one month in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $697,270. He was convicted of computer fraud and aggravated identity theft charges on March 28, 2019, after he pleaded guilty.