Imagine waking up to find out your favorite celebrity has been hacked, their Twitter account spewing out Bitcoin scams. That's exactly what happened back in 2020, and now, the British hacker behind it all is facing the music. Joseph O'Connor, a 26-year-old from Liverpool, has been ordered to cough up a staggering £4.1 million in stolen cryptocurrency after hijacking a slew of high-profile Twitter accounts – now known as X – including those of Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and Elon Musk. This wasn't just a prank; it was a sophisticated scheme that raked in serious money.
O'Connor, known online as 'PlugwalkJoe,' didn't act alone. He orchestrated the 'giveaway scam' with other young individuals, some even teenagers. But how did they manage to pull it off? They didn't just guess passwords. Instead, they used social engineering tactics to trick Twitter employees into handing over their internal login details. Think of it like this: they convinced employees they were someone else, maybe from IT support, needing access for a 'legitimate' reason. This gave them access to Twitter's powerful administrative tools – the keys to the kingdom, so to speak.
Once inside, they impersonated celebrities and tweeted promises to double anyone's Bitcoin if they sent it to specific digital wallets. It was a classic get-rich-quick scheme, preying on people's hope and greed. As a result, an estimated 350 million Twitter users were exposed to these fraudulent tweets from the official accounts of major figures and brands like Apple, Uber, Kanye West, and Bill Gates. Thousands fell for it, believing the crypto giveaway was real.
Between July 15th and 16th, 2020, a whopping 426 transfers were made to the scammers, with people sending various amounts of Bitcoin, all hoping to double their money. In total, they stole over 12.86 BTC, which was worth around $110,000 (£83,500) at the time. And this is the part most people miss... because of Bitcoin's fluctuating value, that same amount is now worth a staggering $1.2 million!
O'Connor fled to Spain, where his mother resided, before being arrested and extradited to the US for trial. He was sentenced to five years for his cybercrimes and was released in 2025. Now, he faces the additional penalty of forfeiting the cryptocurrency he amassed through these hacks and scams.
But here's where it gets controversial... While O'Connor was convicted in the US, the UK's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) stepped in to ensure he couldn't profit from his crimes, even though he wasn't convicted in the UK. Investigators believe O'Connor acquired even more crypto through criminal hacks conducted with other teenagers and young adults he met while playing Call of Duty online. The CPS has recovered a total of 42 Bitcoin and other digital currency from him.
Adrian Foster, Chief Crown Prosecutor for the CPS Proceeds of Crime Division, stated that O'Connor "targeted well-known individuals and used their accounts to scam people out of their crypto assets and money." He emphasized that even without a UK conviction, they can still prevent criminals from benefiting from their illicit activities.
This case raises some interesting questions. Is it fair that O'Connor is being penalized again after serving his sentence in the US? Should social media platforms be held more accountable for the security vulnerabilities that allow these types of hacks to occur? And what responsibility do individuals have to be more skeptical of online offers that seem too good to be true? What are your thoughts? Share your opinions in the comments below!
