Nathan Austad, also known as “Snoopy,” pleaded guilty to participating in a hacking scheme that targeted a fantasy sports and betting website. The announcement was made by Jay Clayton, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Austad admitted to conspiring to commit computer intrusion before U.S. District Judge Ronnie Abrams.
“Today’s guilty plea shows our Office’s commitment to holding cybercriminals who hack and steal from our citizens to account,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “Austad and his co-defendants robbed their victims, including New Yorkers, and shamelessly sold their private account information online. Let this be a warning: hackers and cybercriminals who target New Yorkers will be brought to justice. The women and men of our Office are watching and are committed to protecting the public from cyber intrusions, theft, and the online criminal markets that enable them.”
According to court documents, on November 18, 2022, Austad and others carried out a credential stuffing attack against the betting website. This type of attack involves using stolen usernames and passwords—often acquired from previous data breaches—to try to gain unauthorized access to accounts where users have reused credentials.
The group managed to compromise about 60,000 user accounts on the site. In many cases, they added their own payment methods to these accounts and withdrew existing funds for themselves. Approximately $600,000 was stolen from around 1,600 victim accounts using this method.
Austad also sold access to compromised accounts through websites known as “Shops” that deal in stolen account information. He ran his own shop named after the character Snoopy from Peanuts.
Communications between Austad and his co-conspirators referenced law enforcement investigations into their activities. On December 2, 2022, Austad wrote about the investigation: “everyone shouldve been prepared for this before cashing out lol,” with a co-conspirator replying: “lol fbi can’t do shit.” On May 19, 2023, Austad messaged: “like we didnt know the risk when we started lol . . . everyone knows their committing fraud.”
He also controlled cryptocurrency accounts that received roughly $465,000 in proceeds related to these crimes.
Austad is from Farmington, Minnesota and is 21 years old. He pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit computer intrusion—a charge carrying a maximum sentence of five years in prison as set by Congress; however, sentencing will ultimately be determined by Judge Abrams at a hearing scheduled for April 10, 2026.
Jay Clayton commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation for its work on the case.
The prosecution is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kevin Mead and Micah Fergenson from the Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit.
