Miami, United States
A Florida teenager accused of planning a computer attack on accounts on Twitter of celebrities, and then defrauded their followers by asking for cryptocurrencies, he was sentenced to three years in jail in a juvenile detention center after an agreement with the prosecutor, authorities reported.
Prosecution in Florida announced the deal on Tuesday Graham Ivan Clark case, 18, described as the mastermind of the July 2020 global “Bit-Con” hack of the Twitter accounts of Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Barack Obama and Joe Biden, among others.
The prosecutor of the Hillsborough County, Andrew WarrenClark, who was 17 when he was charged, said would spend three years in juvenile detention, followed by three years of probation, the maximum allowed under Florida’s Juvenile Offenders Law.
If Clark violates the terms of his probation, he could face a minimum of 10 years in prison.
The computer attack, which resulted in federal charges against three other people, consisted of taking over these celebrities’ accounts and asking their thousands or millions of followers to send bitcoins to a particular account, promising to double their money.
“He hijacked famous people’s accounts, but the money he stole came from normal working people,” Warren said.
“Graham Clark should be held accountable for this crime and other potential scammers should see the consequences.”
Warren added that the “goal, where possible, is for every child to learn his lesson without destroying his future” and thus offers a chance for rehabilitation. The case was being investigated by federal authorities, but Clark was turned over to those in the state of Florida because he was a minor at the time.
According to the prosecution, Clark used his access to internal Twitter systems to hijack the accounts of various companies and celebrities in a plan that led to the theft of about $ 100,000. The cyber attack affected at least 130 accounts, including Biden’s when he ran for president.