On Monday, the British authorities said that social media hacker Joseph James O’Connor will be obliged to hand over bitcoins worth more than $5.3 million that were linked to a massive SIM swapping and account takeover scheme. O’Connor, who in 2023 pleaded guilty in the U.S., was part of a concerted effort to break into the accounts of the people of high-profile figures, among them former President Barack Obama, Jeff Bezos, Apple, Uber, and various celebrities. The officials made it clear that they are now taking steps to recover 42 bitcoins and other crypto assets related to the scheme.
The 26-year-old O’Connor illicitly accessed more than 130 X accounts that were formerly known as Twitter. Besides that, TikTok and Snapchat accounts were also part of his spree. According to the U.S. prosecutors, once the group got hold of the accounts, they used them to steal cryptocurrency, issue fraudulent messages, and on top of that, they also sold the access to the accounts with high visibility to third parties.
The court papers reveal that O’Connor was able to take control of a TikTok account, which had one of the widest followings, and shortly after, he tried to hack into the account of another well-known public figure. The prosecutors stated that the group’s schemes were a twofold plan: one was to defraud followers, and the other was to make money by granting access to influential accounts.
According to law enforcement officials, the crypto-assets they confiscated in 2023 were, at that time, worth approximately $794,000; however, their value has increased substantially since then. The Crown Prosecution Service stated that the assets will be sold off by a court-appointed trustee as part of the implementation of the recovery process.
Adrian Foster, chief crown prosecutor for the Proceeds of Crime Division, said O’Connor singled out prominent people, used their accounts as a kind of weapon to mislead the public, and stole digital assets.
After pleading guilty to felonies in his indictment, O’Connor was sentenced to a five-year term in a federal prison in the United States. Among other things, he was charged with computer intrusion and cyber-enabled financial fraud. Additionally, he was indicted on two counts of stalking and, according to prosecutors, he was facing a possible maximum of 20 years before the plea agreement.
Police named Florida teenager Graham Ivan Clark as the ringleader of the hacking group. They also reported that Clark was given a three-year juvenile detention sentence in 2021 for the part he played in the organization of the coordinated takeover of celebrity and corporate accounts.
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