A man has been jailed for hacking into a Facebook account.

Gareth Crosskey, 21, was yesterday (May 16) convicted of hacking after being investigated by the FBI and the UK’s leading computer crime unit.

Crosskey, of Avon Close, Sompting, hacked into the private profile of an American, who reported it to their local police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation took over.

When the crime was traced back to Sussex, Sussex Police and the Metropolitan Police’s Central e-Crime Unit – the national unit created to respond to the most serious incidents of cyber crime in the UK – took over.

Crosskey admitted a number of offences related to Facebook hacking under the Computer Misuse Act at Southwark Crown Court and was jailed for 12 months.

The court was told Crosskey hacked into the victim’s account between January and July 2011.

On January 12, 2011, he hacked into the Facebook account of an individual and was able to access their personal emails.

Crosskey was convicted of causing a computer to perform a function to secure unauthorised access to a program/data.

The court was told he had obtained unauthorised access to secure data held on the social networking site.

He was also convicted of a count of intending to impair the operation of or prevent/hinder access to a computer.

The Metropolitan Police said in a statement: “The matter was passed to the Metropolitan Police Service’s Police Central e-Crime Unit who made inquiries to trace the suspect.

“On July 14, 2011, Crosskey was arrested at his home address for offences under the Computer Misuse Act 1990. Computers and other storage devices were recovered from his home and subject to analysis.

“Crosskey was taken to Worthing police station where he was interviewed about the matter.

"He was released on bail and following his return in February 2012 he was charged.

“We are working to detect and bring before the courts those responsible for this type of offence.

“Today’s result should act as a deterrent to any individuals thinking of participating in this type of criminal activity.

"By taking swift action, officers were able to quickly detain Crosskey, thereby preventing further disruption to the victim.”

Police urged members of the public to keep their personal details secure online and to report offences of cyber fraud to Action Fraud at www.actionfraud.org.uk.