Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Tuesday, Sep 16, 2025

Briton pleads guilty to hacking stars' Twitter accounts to steal Bitcoin

Briton pleads guilty to hacking stars' Twitter accounts to steal Bitcoin

The hacker will have to pay back the hundreds of thousands of dollars he stole from people and faces decades behind bars.

A British man has pleaded guilty to hacking Twitter accounts - including Barack Obama, Kim Kardashian and Elon Musk - in a bid to con people out of Bitcoin.

Joseph O'Connor, 23, also admitted other hacking schemes, cyberstalking a young victim, and money laundering charges.

He was extradited from Spain to New York last month and faces as much as 77 years in jail when he is sentenced on 23 June.

O'Connor and his co-conspirators stole more than $794,000 (£629,000) of cryptocurrency - money he must give back to victims, according to prosecutors.

Twitter had to freeze some of the stars' accounts after the tweets in July 2020 urged people to send $1,000 in Bitcoin to receive double back.

He also hacked accounts belonging to Kanye West, Joe Biden, Bill Gates, investor Warren Buffett, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Amazon's Jeff Bezos.

Twitter confirmed 130 accounts were targeted, with 45 used to send tweets.

The company said the hackers got access via a social engineering attack - a breach based on convincing someone to provide access, rather than finding flaws in software.

Twitter said at the time that "a small number of employees" were called over the phone and tricked into providing their login credentials.

Barack Obama was among those hacked


The amateur quality of the scam surprised many compared with how effective the attackers had been at gaining access.

"O'Connor's criminal activities were flagrant and malicious, and his conduct impacted multiple people's lives," said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Polite.

"He harassed, threatened, and extorted his victims, causing substantial emotional harm."

British citizen Joseph James O'Connor is led by Spanish police officers as he leaves a court in July 2021


O'Connor, who was known online by the handle PlugWalkJoe and previously gave interviews to the media regarding the hack, was arrested in July 2021 in Spain at the request of the FBI.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Did the Houthis disrupt the internet in the Middle East? Submarine cables cut in the Red Sea
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
High-Stakes Trump-Putin Summit on Ukraine Underway in Alaska
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
Saudi Arabia accelerates renewables to curb domestic oil use
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez announce engagement
Asia-Pacific dominates world’s busiest flight routes, with South Korea’s Jeju–Seoul corridor leading global rankings
Private Welsh island with 19th-century fort listed for sale at over £3 million
Sam Altman challenges Elon Musk with plans for Neuralink rival
Australia to Recognize the State of Palestine at UN Assembly
The Collapse of the Programmer Dream: AI Experts Now the Real High-Earners
Armenia and Azerbaijan to Sign US-Brokered Framework Agreement for Nakhchivan Corridor
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
Nine people have been hospitalized and dozens of salmonella cases have been reported after an outbreak of infections linked to certain brands of pistachios and pistachio-containing products, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada
Texas Residents Face Water Restrictions While AI Data Centers Consume Millions of Gallons
Tariffs, AI, and the Shifting U.S. Macro Landscape: Navigating a New Economic Regime
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
×