University of Michigan - Matt Weiss Data Breach

Attorneys working with ClassAction.org are looking into whether a class action lawsuit can be filed in light of hacking allegations against ex-University of Michigan assistant football coach Matthew Weiss.

As part of their investigation, they need to hear from individuals who received a notice stating they were impacted.

Weiss, 42, is facing federal charges over allegations that he infiltrated the online accounts of around 3,300 people to download intimate images and videos, primarily targeting female athletes. The former co-offensive coordinator at Michigan was indicted on 14 counts of unauthorized access to computers and 10 counts of aggravated identity theft earlier this week.

According to an announcement from the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), Weiss’ hacking scheme ran from approximately 2015 through January 2023. Over this eight-year period, Weiss allegedly gained unauthorized access to student-athlete databases at more than 100 colleges and universities. The DOJ stated that the former coach downloaded personal details and medical information belonging to more than 150,000 athletes from these databases. Weiss then allegedly used stolen data and additional information gathered through his internet research to guess or reset social media, email and cloud storage passwords.

“Once Weiss obtained access to these accounts, he downloaded personal, intimate digital photographs and videos that were never intended to be shared beyond intimate partners,” a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan states.

Victims have received letters from the FBI and emails from the DOJ’s Justice Victim Notification System about the hack, the National Law Review reports.

If your information was exposed in the hack, attorneys want to hear from you. You may be able to start a class action lawsuit to recover compensation for loss of privacy, time spent dealing with the breach, out-of-pocket costs, and more.