ugc_banner

Florida teen sent to three years in jail for hacking Twitter accounts of Biden, Gates, Kim Karashian

WION Web Team
Washington, DC, United States of AmericaUpdated: Mar 17, 2021, 12:09 PM IST
main img
Washington D.C. police server hacked. Representative image. Photograph:(Reuters)

Story highlights

The 18-year-old was the mastermind behind the scheme to take over prominent Twitter accounts and send tweets seeking Bitcoin payments. 

A Florida teenager has been sentenced to three years in prison for hacking the Twitter accounts of prominent politicians and celebrities last year, and scamming people around the globe out of more than $100,000 in Bitcoin.

Graham Ivan Clark pleaded guilty to multiple fraud charges as part of a deal with Hillsborough County prosecutors. He was then tried in state court instead of federal court because he was 17 at the time of the crimes.

According to the Tampa Bay Times, the 18-year-old was the mastermind behind the scheme to take over prominent Twitter accounts and send tweets seeking Bitcoin payments. 

During the high-profile security breach on July 15 last year, tweets were sent from the accounts of Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Mike Bloomberg and a number of tech billionaires including Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Tesla CEO Elon Musk. 

Celebrities Kanye West and his wife, Kim Kardashian West, were also targeted.