Charges filed in hack that caused NFL athlete’s nude pics to be posted on Twitter

Enlarge / The Department of Justice seal as seen during a press conference in December 2019. (credit: Samuel Corum | Getty Images)

Federal authorities have accused two men of hacking the email and social media accounts of multiple athletes with the National Football League and the National Basketball Association and either selling or ransoming the credentials for profit.

In one case, according to a criminal complaint unsealed on Wednesday, the account compromises resulted in explicit photos of one of the NFL players being posted to his Twitter and Instagram accounts. The complaint didn't identify the athlete except to call him Victim-1 and to say that he lived in New Jersey and the photos appeared on June 4, 2018.

Based on the information, the player appeared to be New York Giants defensive end Avery Moss, who, according to ESPN, found naked pictures and videos posted to his Twitter timeline shortly after finishing an OTA practice on June 4. Accounts he followed were blocked, most likely in an attempt to delay Moss from learning of the postings. More explicit videos and images appeared later but were subsequently removed within about 30 minutes.

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