The U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York has announced that Alonzo Knowles, (aka Jeff Moxey) was arrested last week. He is alleged to have hacked into celebrity email accounts.

According to the U.S. Attorney, Knowles hacked into the email accounts of three professional athletes and a movie actress and stole their Social Security numbers, sex tapes and unreleased scripts of a popular television show. He then tried to sell them to a radio host. The radio host checked into the deal with the television network, then introduced Knowles to an undercover agent. Knowles proceeded to tell the agent that he had a list of 130 emails and telephone numbers of celebrities and that the celebrities were unaware that he had hacked into their accounts.

He further boasted that he had used two methods to hack into the accounts—a virus which allowed him to control the celebrity’s device or a phishing email telling them the account had been hacked and telling them to give them their password. He showed the agent screen shots of an actor’s passport and Social Security number.

The case is still under investigation. This is another example of the same phishing scheme that many fall prey to and is a reminder to be suspicious of any emails or texts that ask for a password.