A former student from the Cayey Campus of the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) pleaded guilty at the federal level to charges of cyberbullying after launching a campaign of cyberattacks directed at multiple email accounts of the institution and of at least 15 women.
Iván Santell Velázquez faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison on charges of cyberbullying. The sentencing hearing will be held on October 12, 2022.
The investigation carried out by the Office of San Juan del Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) maintains that Santell Velázquez, while he was studying at the Cayey Campus of the UPR, sent unauthorized emails to professors, administrative staff, and students under the nickname “Slay3r_r00t”.
Specifically, Santell Velázquez launched his campaign against more than 100 students and gained access to the university email accounts of multiple people.. Santell Velázquez collected personal information from his victims through surveillance schemes. phishing y spoofing y, between 2019 and 2021, he gained access to the Snapchat accounts of several women; some of the accounts contained intimate photos of the victims that she later shared with third parties. These people posted the images on the internet.
One victim indicated that after Santell Velázquez gained access to her Snapchat account, she began receiving harassing messages along with copies of her intimate photos. Photos taken from her Snapchat account were republished, without her consent, on both Twitter and Facebook.
The agreement reached with the Federal Prosecutor for the District of Puerto Rico includes 15 women and the UPR, who were victims of the conduct of Santell Velázquez.
“This individual undertook a campaign of phishing y spoofing to steal personal data from their victims. He harassed many women after obtaining their intimate photos and, in some cases, posted them on the internet. This case demonstrates the importance of safeguarding our personal data and having strong passwords, especially in response to suspicious emails and text messages,” said the head of the US Attorney’s Office in Puerto Rico, William Stephen Muldrow.
“People who engage in this type of conduct know that what they are doing is illegal, and they know that they are causing serious harm to their victims. What I want everyone to understand is that these actions are not only wrong, but that it is a federal crime, crimes that the FBI will not tolerate,” said the special agent in charge of the FBI San Juan Office, Joseph Gonzalez.
González urged citizens and victims of these types of crimes to report them by calling 787-987-6500, or by browsing the FBI website tips.fbi.gov.