A British man who hacked high profile Twitter accounts, now known as X, as part of a Bitcoin scam has been ordered to repay four point one million pounds in stolen cryptocurrency. Joseph O Connor from Liverpool took control of more than one hundred thirty accounts in July 2020. These included accounts belonging to Barack Obama, Joe Biden and Elon Musk.
The twenty six year old fled to Spain where his mother lives before he was arrested and later extradited to the United States for trial. He received a five year prison sentence for cyber crimes. He must now return the stolen cryptocurrency that he collected through several hacks and scams.
O Connor, who used the online name PlugwalkJoe, carried out the so called giveaway scam with other young men and teenagers. They broke into Twitter’s internal systems and gained control of well known accounts. Three other individuals have been charged in connection with the scam. A United States teenager named Graham Clark pleaded guilty in 2021 for his role.
The group gained access to the accounts by convincing a small number of Twitter employees to reveal their internal login details. This allowed them to reach the platform’s powerful administrative tools. They used social engineering tactics to access the internal control panel.
Once they were inside the accounts of famous individuals, they posed as the celebrities and posted messages urging followers to send Bitcoin to digital wallets with promises to double their money. The scam reached an estimated three hundred fifty million Twitter users who saw unusual tweets from major accounts, including those linked to a well known technology company, a transport company and public figures such as Kanye West and Bill Gates.
Thousands of people believed the fake crypto giveaway was real. Between fifteen and sixteen July 2020, four hundred twenty six transfers were made to the scammers. More than twelve point eight six Bitcoin was stolen, worth about one hundred ten thousand dollars at the time. The same amount is now valued at one point two million dollars.
The Crown Prosecution Service in the United Kingdom said investigators found more cryptocurrency linked to O Connor through other criminal hacks he carried out with teenagers he met while playing the game Call of Duty online. The agency recovered forty two Bitcoin and other digital currency from him.
Adrian Foster, Chief Crown Prosecutor for the CPS Proceeds of Crime Division, said O Connor “targeted well known individuals and used their accounts to scam people out of their crypto assets and money”. He added, “Even when someone is not convicted in the UK, we are still able to ensure they do not benefit from their criminality.”
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