Phishing Scam Involves Fairfax Students' Snapchat Accounts

WEST SPRINGFIELD, VA — Fairfax County Police have charged a registered sex offender in a phishing scam involving high school students' Snapchat accounts.

According to police, detectives began investigating when South County and West Springfield High School students reported being contacted by a Snapchat user. The user with the account name "pviexposed" contacted the victims and threatened to expose their private videos and images.

Investigations found Christopher Martini, 33, of Lorton, sent text messages posing as a Snapchat representative. Those messages led to victims providing identifying information and login credentials, a technique known as phishing.

Martini is charged with two counts of using a computer to gather identifying information and two counts of computer trespass. Additional charges are pending further investigation. He is being held without bond at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center.

According to the Virginia State Police sex offender registry, Martini had been convicted on Sept. 24, 2020 in Loudoun County Circuit Court on charges of proposing sex acts by communication system. He is listed to be on probation supervision.

Fairfax County detectives ask anyone with information about the phishing crimes or anyone that was contacted by Snapchat user "pviexposed" to call the Major Crimes Bureau at 703-246-7800, option 6 or leave a tip with Fairfax Crime Solvers.