Man pleads guilty to Twitter Bitcoin scam, hacking Elon Musk, Joe Biden

• Several high-profile Twitter accounts were hacked as part of a bitcoin giveaway scam in 2020.
• Joseph James O’Connor pleaded guilty to his role in the scheme on Tuesday, according to the DOJ.
• He was extradited to the United States last month after being arrested in Spain two years ago.

A 23-year-old pleaded guilty to his role in 2020’s massive Twitter hacking scheme in a New York court on Tuesday, the Justice Department announced.

Joseph James O’Connor, a British citizen, was first arrested in Spain two years ago before being extradited to the United States last month.

He was part of a group that hijacked several high-profile Twitter users, including Joe Biden, Kim Kardashian and Elon Musk. At the time, Twitter said 130 accounts were targeted.

The hackers tweeted from these accounts, falsely claiming that they would double all bitcoin sent to them in the next 30 minutes. Binance – the world’s largest crypto exchange – also saw its account compromised.

Twitter card stopped everything verified accounts from tweeting as the company tried to oust the hackers.

“We discovered what we believe to be a coordinated social engineering attack by people who have successfully targeted some of our employees with access to internal systems and tools,” the so.

The DOJ said O’Connor and his co-conspirators were also involved in several other schemes that use SIM swapping, where hackers can remotely gain control of a victim’s phone.

It included blackmailing an unnamed public figure with private Snapchat photos; stealing $794,000 in crypto from a Manhattan-based company; and posting identifiable self-promotional videos on a high-profile TikTok account.

O’Connor also cyberstalked and threatened a minor, including using swatting attacks. Swatting refers to the act of calling the police on an innocent person and falsely claiming criminal activity.

“O’Connor’s criminal activities were blatant and malicious, and his conduct affected the lives of several people. He harassed, threatened and blackmailed his victims, causing significant emotional harm,” Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. said. at the Ministry of Justice’s department. Criminal Division.

O’Connor pleaded guilty to multiple counts of stalking, computer intrusion, extortion, money laundering and conspiracy to commit fraud. He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 23 and faces a maximum sentence of more than 70 years in prison.