SUNY Geneseo student to face hacker in court two years after explicit photos were leaked | WHAM
SUNY Geneseo student to face hacker in court two years after explicit photos were leaked
by Carla Rogner Monday, November 29th 2021
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Natalie Claus (WHAM photo)
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Natalie Claus is looking forward to graduating from SUNY Geneseo in December, but first she is focusing on another date on her calendar.
On Wednesday, Claus will face a stranger in court, David Mondore, who hacked her snapchat account in December 2019 and sent an explicit photo saved in her private folder to 116 of her snapchat contacts with the caption, “Flash me back if we are besties”. Four of her contacts sent back a nude photo of their own.
“My friend told me. she was walking by and said hey cute pic but be careful who you send that to, and I was like what are you talking about? I had been working on a project,” Claus said. “That is when I realized that the person I had given my account information to was not who they said they were and had locked me out of my account and accessed images that were not intended for public sight and had sent them to dozens of people.”
Claus went to the police and filed a report.
Mondore is scheduled to be sentenced on Wednesday after pleading guilty in June to federal charges of accessing a protected computer without authorization and, by means of such conduct, furthering the intended fraud and obtaining anything of value. He faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Prosecutors say Mondore hacked into about 300 accounts between July 2018 and when he was arrested in August 2020. Claus will be the only one to offer a victim impact statement in court.
“I wanted to speak at his sentencing because I think it is easy for people to assume it is a victimless crime. He didn’t break into my house, mug me or do anything to physically harm me but that doesn’t make it victimless,” Claus said. “I am a person, there is a person on the other side of that screen attached to that account.”
According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, Mondore gained access into accounts like Claus’ by sending a text message from a fake phone number, acting as Snapchat, asking for information and a security code and locking users out of their accounts.
“It came from a number that looked like a snapchat generated message, no red flags. He knew what he was doing and how to do it without raising alarms,” Claus said.
Claus said through sharing her story, she hopes she can help other victims feel inspired to come forward and know they are not alone.
“I don’t think this is going to stop anyone from becoming a victim. I just hope it allows people to come forward when and if they become a victim and I hope it impacts how we view the victims of these crimes, how we treat them and how we treat the people who commit these crimes. instead of just brushing them off to the side as a nonviolent offense which technically it is, it feels violent and it feels really violating,” she said.
After the sentencing, Claus looks forward to moving on from the hacking that “upended her life” nearly two years ago.
“I am really uncomfortable on campus even two years later, I don’t know who has seen it, who has taken screenshots, who has shared it with their friends,” Claus said. “I don’t think I can ever really put it behind me. I mean I can grow from it, move on from it, make it not the center of my life anymore which is what it has been the last two years.”
In a statement provided to WHAM, Mondore's attorney, Jeffrey Bagley said:
"David is a young man who has accepted and owned the responsibility for his actions. He recognizes that his errors in judgment have profoundly affected this young woman and others. He is full of remorse. There is, of course, more to David than these actions. The defense hopes that you and your viewers – as well as the sentencing judge -- understand that each of us is more than the worst act we’ve ever done."
by Carla Rogner Monday, November 29th 2021
UserWay icon for accessibility widget
Natalie Claus (WHAM photo)
Facebook Share Icon
Twitter Share Icon
Email Share Icon
Natalie Claus is looking forward to graduating from SUNY Geneseo in December, but first she is focusing on another date on her calendar.
On Wednesday, Claus will face a stranger in court, David Mondore, who hacked her snapchat account in December 2019 and sent an explicit photo saved in her private folder to 116 of her snapchat contacts with the caption, “Flash me back if we are besties”. Four of her contacts sent back a nude photo of their own.
“My friend told me. she was walking by and said hey cute pic but be careful who you send that to, and I was like what are you talking about? I had been working on a project,” Claus said. “That is when I realized that the person I had given my account information to was not who they said they were and had locked me out of my account and accessed images that were not intended for public sight and had sent them to dozens of people.”
Claus went to the police and filed a report.
Mondore is scheduled to be sentenced on Wednesday after pleading guilty in June to federal charges of accessing a protected computer without authorization and, by means of such conduct, furthering the intended fraud and obtaining anything of value. He faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Prosecutors say Mondore hacked into about 300 accounts between July 2018 and when he was arrested in August 2020. Claus will be the only one to offer a victim impact statement in court.
“I wanted to speak at his sentencing because I think it is easy for people to assume it is a victimless crime. He didn’t break into my house, mug me or do anything to physically harm me but that doesn’t make it victimless,” Claus said. “I am a person, there is a person on the other side of that screen attached to that account.”
According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, Mondore gained access into accounts like Claus’ by sending a text message from a fake phone number, acting as Snapchat, asking for information and a security code and locking users out of their accounts.
“It came from a number that looked like a snapchat generated message, no red flags. He knew what he was doing and how to do it without raising alarms,” Claus said.
Claus said through sharing her story, she hopes she can help other victims feel inspired to come forward and know they are not alone.
“I don’t think this is going to stop anyone from becoming a victim. I just hope it allows people to come forward when and if they become a victim and I hope it impacts how we view the victims of these crimes, how we treat them and how we treat the people who commit these crimes. instead of just brushing them off to the side as a nonviolent offense which technically it is, it feels violent and it feels really violating,” she said.
After the sentencing, Claus looks forward to moving on from the hacking that “upended her life” nearly two years ago.
“I am really uncomfortable on campus even two years later, I don’t know who has seen it, who has taken screenshots, who has shared it with their friends,” Claus said. “I don’t think I can ever really put it behind me. I mean I can grow from it, move on from it, make it not the center of my life anymore which is what it has been the last two years.”
In a statement provided to WHAM, Mondore's attorney, Jeffrey Bagley said:
"David is a young man who has accepted and owned the responsibility for his actions. He recognizes that his errors in judgment have profoundly affected this young woman and others. He is full of remorse. There is, of course, more to David than these actions. The defense hopes that you and your viewers – as well as the sentencing judge -- understand that each of us is more than the worst act we’ve ever done."
