A Brit who hacked multiple high-profile Twitter / X accounts in 2020, and who was extradited to the US and jailed in 2023, has now been ordered to hand over £4.1 million ($5.4 million) in ill-gotten crypto gains (thanks, BBC).
Joseph O'Connor, now 26 years old, hijacked over 130 accounts, including those of Apple, Uber, Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Barack Obama, and Kanye West. Alongside other hackers, three of whom have been charged, they then impersonated the companies / individuals in question and used the accounts to promote a classic "double your money" scam.
O'Connor is currently serving a five year sentence in the US, but this new asset seizure was led by the UK's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which has managed to recover 42 Bitcoin and other assets from the fraudster. Obviously this is a higher value than the Twitter hack alone: the CPS says its investigators believe that the additional Bitcoin was also obtained through hacks, adding the detail that O'Connor carried these out with other young men he'd met through Call of Duty.
"Even when someone is not convicted in the UK, we are still able to ensure they do not benefit from their criminality," said Adrian Foster of the CPS Proceeds of Crime Division.
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