Mastermind behind recent $100K Twitter Bitcoin hack was a 17-year-old Florida teen
Image credit: Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office
On July 31, federal officials along with local jurisdictions reported that three young men were charged for their roles in the Twitter hack that went down on July 15, 2020. This particular hack made international headlines not only because of the technical sophistication of the attack, but also because some of the Twitter accounts compromised belonged to high profile individuals like Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, according to CBS News. In total, more than 100 social media accounts were compromised.
The mastermind behind the operation has been identified as 17-year-old Graham Ivan Clark of Tampa, Florida. The teen has been arrested and is currently being detained in Florida’s Hillsborough County Jail. And he’s looking at about 30 felonies, including . . .
… 17 counts of communications fraud (over $300), 10 counts of fraudulent use of personal information, and one count each of organized fraud (over $50,000), fraudulent use of personal information (over $100,000 or 30 or more victims) and access computer or electronic device without authority (scheme to defraud).
Mason Sheppard, aka “Chaewon,” 19, of Bognor Regis, in the United Kingdom, was charged in a criminal complaint in the Northern District of California with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and the intentional access of a protected computer.
Another Floridian, Nima Fazeli, aka “Rolex,” 22, of Orlando, was charged in a criminal complaint in the Northern District of California with aiding and abetting the intentional access of a protected computer.
The three cyber criminals are alleged to have created a scam bitcoin account, to have hacked into Twitter VIP accounts, to have sent solicitations from the Twitter VIP accounts with a false promise to double any bitcoin deposits made to the scam account, and then to have stolen the bitcoin that victims deposited into the scam account.
Their scam bitcoin account received more than 400 transfers worth more than $100,000.
Yesterday, Twitter released a statement shortly after the arrest thanking law enforcement for their work.
“We appreciate the swift actions of law enforcement in this investigation and will continue to cooperate as the case progresses,” the company said. “For our part, we are focused on being transparent and providing updates regularly.”
“The hackers allegedly compromised over 100 social media accounts and scammed both the account users and others who sent money based on their fraudulent solicitations,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian C. Rabbitt of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.
The teenaged mastermind behind the “Bit-Con” is being held on a $750,000 bond, which is the equivalent of $25,000 for each of his 30 felony charges. If Graham Clark does make bond, “he will not be allowed to use internet, electronic devices or a personal phone. He will have to surrender his passport and wear a GPS monitoring device,” according to WFLA.
For more on the story, see the video accompanying this article.
(Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of California)
~ Posted by Richard Webster, Ace News Today / Connect with Richard on Facebook and Twitter
