Computer technician held for installing spyware to photograph women

Trevor Harwell, who was hired to fix clients' computers, was arrested by police on suspicion of installing spyware software to take candid photos of his women clients showering and undressing in their homes, a report said.

Harwell, 20, is alleged to have collected hundreds of thousands of images of his clients, according to police.

The software sent fake error messages telling users to fix their internal sensor soon, and try putting your laptop near hot steam for several minutes to clean the sensor, Fullerton police Sgt. Andrew Goodrich told IDG news service.

Harwell worked for the local computer repair company Rezitech in California, police said.

According to Goodrich, the technician on repair assignment secretly set up a complex system that could inform him whenever it was ready to snap a shot using the computer's webcam. “The server would notify his Smartphone... and then the images were recorded on his home computer, he said.

Harwell was arrested on Wednesday by Fullerton police and later released on $50,000 bond.

Police began investigating this case last summer when a Fullerton resident complained about suspicious messages appearing on his daughter's computer. Police are looking for other victims.

Hundreds of thousands of still images and videos were seized from Harwell's computer, police said.

According to Orange County Superior Court records, Harwell faces 12 felony counts of computer access and fraud.

Victims can find the Cam capture software by looking in their /Library/WebServer/Documents folder.