FBI arrests hacker, 19, who 'sextorted Miss Teen USA Cassidy Wolf with naked pictures he took after logging in to webcam in her bedroom'
.
Jared James Abrahams, of Temecula, California, surrendered to FBI agents on Thursday and has been charged with cybercrimes
Investigators who have been probing the teen since March said more than a dozen other victims had been identified
Miss Wolf said the hacker threatened to go public with images he had taken from her webcam unless she sent him more naked pictures, videos or logged in to Skype for five minutes and gave him a 'special performance'
A 19-year-old man from Temecula, California has been arrested for 'sextorting' Miss Teen U.S.A. Cassidy Wolf after he allegedly hacked into a webcam in her bedroom and took pictures as she undressed.
Jared James Abrahams surrendered to FBI agents in Orange County on Thursday. He is accused of cybercrimes and investigators who have been probing the teen since March said more than a dozen other victims had been identified.
Wolf, who was crowned Miss U.S.A. in August after winning Miss California Teen, revealed she received an anonymous email from someone claiming to have taken nude photographs of her using her own webcam.
She said the hacker threatened to go public with images unless she sent him more naked pictures, videos or logged in to Skype for five minutes and gave him a 'special performance'
According to the Los Angeles Times, an FBI affidavit alleges Abrahams threatened to transform one victim's 'dream of being a model... into (her being) a porn star' if she didn't do what he said. It's not clear whether this was Wolf as the affidavit does not name the victims.
Abraham's home was raided in June and FBI agents seized computers, cell phones and hacking software, according to court records.
The newly crown Miss Teen USA came forward in August with new details of the shocking cyber ordeal.
Without her knowledge, the hacker, now believed to be Abrahams, could watch and photograph Wolf and contacted Wolf, threatening to go public with the photos unless she gave him a special 'performance.'
The college freshman said she was speaking out against so-called 'sextortion' in order to spread the word and teach other young women to be careful.
'I was terrified,' she said in an August interview with Today. 'I started screaming, bawling my eyes out. I was on the phone with my mom, and I felt helpless because I wasn't sure what to do, so it was a very terrifying moment.'
Through an anonymous email address, the cyber stalker attempted to extort Wolf for sexual favors, hence the term 'sextortion.'
'You would never think somebody would be watching you in your room and this guy had been,' Wolf said. 'The thought of that just gave me nightmares.'
These were the first details the beauty queen has released on her experience since she revealed she was the victim of cyber crime just after she was crowned.
But the incident actually occurred four months before Wolf won her current title.
'It happened to me when I was a normal girl and it can happen to anybody,' she said. 'The message is to tell somebody.'
Wolf immediately called her mom, who reported the incident to police. The FBI quickly took over the case.
The Temecula, California native now travels the country to tell her story and warn other teenagers about cyber-crime.
'The longer it goes on, the worse it will get, so if you can get the word out,' she urged. 'Talk to the authorities.'
Speaking to Today.com, Wolf initially revealed the crime just after she beat 51 other young women to take the Miss Teen USA title at a pageant in the Bahamas.
'I was just a normal girl in high school,' she said.
Around five months ago, she was notified that someone had tried to log into her Facebook account from a different state. She then received an anonymous email from a stranger saying he had photographs of her in her room that were taken when her computer's webcam was hacked.
'I wasn't aware that somebody was watching me [on my webcam],' she said. 'The light [on the camera] didn't even go on, so I had no idea.'
She would not provide further details of the nature of the photographs, citing the ongoing federal investigation, but told Fox that they captured things you would do 'in the privacy of your own room'.
She added the stranger tried to extort her, saying that the photos would then not be leaked.
'You just need to be so extremely careful with what you do online nowadays because you never know what people can be doing to you online,' she told Fox.
After she was named Miss California, Miss Wolf traveled to schools near her home in Temecula to talk with students about how to protect themselves from cyber-crimes.
During her one-year reign, she hopes to spread her story as a warning to others.
'This next year I'm just so excited to be able to share my story and raise awareness in young teens about what can happen,' she said.
She said that people can protect themselves by changing their passwords frequently and deleting browsing history regularly. She also suggested putting a sticker over the webcam when it's not being used.
Wolf, an avid dancer since the age of two, plans on continuing this work even when she begins classes at the New York Film Academy this year.
She said she was 'shocked and overwhelmed' to win the pageant in August after just two years of competing in contests.
Never send compromising images of yourself to anyone, no matter who they are—or who they say they are.