Technician Arrested for Installing Webcam Peeping Software on Women’s PCs

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A computer technician has been arrested in California for allegedly installing peeping software on women’s computers. The software apparently allowed the man, Trevor Harwell, to remotely access the computers and use their webcams to take pictures and videos of the unsuspecting owners.

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And Harwell apparently went a step beyond simply hoping to catch women in various stages of undress. As PC Magazine reports:

“Police said he installed software on his alleged female victims’ Macs that would send error pop-ups that instructed them to ‘fix their internal sensor soon,’ and ‘try putting your laptop near hot steam for several minutes to clean the sensor.’

Some of the alleged victims would take their laptops in to the bathroom while they showered as a result, authorities said.”

Authorities searched Harwell’s personal computer and found that it contained videos and photos of women numbering in the hundreds of thousands.

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Detectives “identified several victims,” according to the Associated Press.

In an official statement, Fullerton, California police Sergeant Andrew Goodrich stated:

“While [Harwell] had physical access to the computers, he would install a spy ware-type application that allowed him remote access to the user’s computer and webcam. Once he had access, he would take photographs of the users, usually women. Often, the female victims were undressed or changing clothes. Harwell then stored the photos on a remote server, and eventually downloaded them to his own computer.”

Police had been investigating the case since last year after a Fullerton man noticed some of the odd messages popping up on his daughter’s computer.

On Wednesday, Harwell was arrested later released on a $50,000 bond. Court records indicate that “he is facing 12 felony counts of computer access and fraud,” reports the OC Register.