Santa Ana – from www.myfoxla.com – A Santa Ana man was charged today with of hacking into hundreds of computers to extort victims into making sexually explicit digital videos for him, and to steal their credit card numbers.
Luis Mijangos, 31, allegedly tricked 230 people — including 44 children — into downloading a virus that allowed him to take over their personal computers. The FBI said Mijangos looked for sexually-explicit pictures of computer owners, then used threats to email those files to victims’ mailing lists to coerce them to send him more homemade digital pornography.
Mijangos was arrested at his house by the FBI, charged with extortion, and brought in his wheelchair to federal court in Los Angeles to make his first court appearance today, said FBI agent Laura Eimiller.
Bail was set at $10,000, but he cannot be released because he is suspected of being an illegal immigrant and is being held without possible bail for Immigration and Customs Enforcement hearings, said Thom Mrozek, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
A six-month investigation of Mijangos began when one of his alleged victims went to Glendale police for help, Eimiller said. Most of his alleged victims live in Long Beach, she said.
Agents discovered that Mijangos infected more than 100 computers used by about 230 people, said Mrozek. At least 44 of the victims were minors, Mrozek said.
Mijangos accessed the computers through peer-to-peer networks by tricking victims to download malware that appeared to be popular songs, Mrozek said. The malware allowed Mijangos to take control of the computers, Mrozek said.
In some cases, he would search through the data on the computers to find explicit photos or videos of his victims, Mrozek said. Then he would blackmail the victims to make more pornographic videos for him, threatening to send the stolen intimate photos or videos to everyone on their e-mail list, Mrozek said.
Mijangos stole user names and passwords to hack into e-mail and social networking sites, Mrozek said. One alleged scheme involved Mijangos hacking into e-mail accounts so he could pretend to be the boyfriends of women and teenage girls to ask them to make pornographic videos, Mrozek said.
After he received the videos he would contact the victims under a new alias and demand more sexually explicit videos or he would distribute the homemade porn online, Mrozek said.
Mijangos is also accused of remotely accessing personal computer webcams, which he used to spy on people and catch them in “intimate situations,” Mrozek said.
Mijangos also is accused of installing a “keylogger” on the computers of some victims to steal their credit card numbers and other personal identifying information he could use for identity theft, according to the criminal complaint against him.
Mijangos allegedly told FBI agents that he hacked into computers at the request of boyfriends and husbands who wanted to know if their partners were cheating on them, Mrozek said. Mijangos also allegedly told investigators he was part of an international network of hackers, Mrozek said.
Mijangos is expected to next appear in federal court in Los Angeles July 13 for a preliminary hearing. Arraignment is set for July 19.