Liverpool man behind infamous celebrity Twitter hack jailed in USA

A man from Liverpool has been jailed in the USA after hacking high profile and celebrity Twitter accounts as part of a massive Bitcoin scam.

Joseph O’Connor, 24, hijacked more than 130 profiles in July 2020, including Kanye West, Bill Gates, presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, plus current Twitter owner Elon Musk.

O’Connor, who went by the online alias PlugwalkJoe, pleaded guilty to hacking charges last month and has now been sentenced to five years for cyber crimes, according to the United States Attorney’s Office.

The hack made scam tweets from celebrity accounts and asked followers to deposit Bitcoin into an account, with the promise of doubling the investment. An estimated 350 million Twitter users were reached, with thousands being hoodwinked.

O’Connor, who was extradited from Spain in April, stole around $800,000 worth of cryptocurrency. He faced a maximum sentence of more than 70 years in jail.