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A Teenager In Florida Arrested For Twitter Bitcoin Scam

By Modupeoluwa Adekanye

31 July 2020   |   8:51 pm

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A teenager in Florida has been arrested over a major Twitter hack in July, according to the Hillsborough State Attorney's Office. On 15 July, Twitter accounts of multiple high-profile US figures were hijacked in an apparent Bitcoin scam. Hillsborough State Attorney Andrew Warren has filed 30 felony charges against the teenager for "scamming people across…

A Teenage In Florida Arrested For Twitter Bitcoin Scam

A teenager in Florida has been arrested over a major Twitter hack in July, according to the Hillsborough State Attorney’s Office.

On 15 July, Twitter accounts of multiple high-profile US figures were hijacked in an apparent Bitcoin scam. Hillsborough State Attorney Andrew Warren has filed 30 felony charges against the teenager for “scamming people across America”.

The charges include organised fraud and fraudulent use of personal information.

The attack saw high-profile accounts such as Elon Musk, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Amazon boss Jeff Bezos, Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden, former US President Barack Obama, and reality star Kim Kardashian West falsely tweet out requests for Bitcoin donations.

In a statement, Andrew Warren said:

As a cryptocurrency, Bitcoin is difficult to track and recover if stolen in a scam. These crimes were perpetrated using the names of famous people and celebrities, but they’re not the primary victims here. This ‘Bit-Con’ was designed to steal money from regular Americans from all over the country, including here in Florida. This massive fraud was orchestrated right here in our backyard, and we will not stand for that.

The charges against the teenager include 17 counts of communication fraud, 10 counts of fraudulent use of personal information, one count of fraudulent use of personal information with over $100,000 (£76,340) or 30 or more victims, one count of organised fraud and one count of access to computers or electronic devices without authority.

The teenager lives in Tampa, Florida and so will be prosecuted by Hillsborough State authorities as reported by BBC..

Twitter commenting on the situation wrote:

We appreciate the swift actions of law enforcement in this investigation and will continue to cooperate as the case progresses. For our part, we are focused on being transparent and providing updates regularly.

The identity of the teenager is yet to be released.