A UK resident has been ordered to forfeit digital assets worth about five point four million dollars following his conviction in the United States for involvement in the 2020 breach of high-profile Twitter accounts. Joseph James O’Connor was linked to a scheme in which attackers gained access to internal tools at the social media platform and used them to take over more than one hundred verified accounts. The affected profiles included public figures such as Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Bill Gates, and Elon Musk. Once the accounts were compromised, the attackers posted messages promoting a cryptocurrency scam that directed followers to send Bitcoin to a designated wallet.
According to UK authorities, the recovered assets include roughly 42 Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies linked to the fraud. Officials used civil recovery powers under proceeds of crime legislation to seize the funds even though O’Connor was prosecuted and sentenced in the United States. The Crown Prosecution Service said the action was intended to prevent the defendant from profiting from criminal activity regardless of where the conviction occurred. A court-appointed trustee will oversee the liquidation of the assets.
The breach itself resulted from social engineering tactics directed at employees with access to internal systems. Investigators found that the attackers persuaded Twitter staff to provide credentials or access information, which allowed them to control the targeted accounts. Security analysts note that the incident demonstrated how access to administrative tools can be exploited to amplify fraudulent messages on a large scale. The messages posted during the intrusion promised to double any Bitcoin sent to the attackers and reached millions of users before they were removed.
O’Connor was arrested in Spain in 2021 and extradited to the United States, where he pleaded guilty to computer intrusion, wire fraud, and related offences. He received a five-year prison sentence in 2023. The civil recovery decision announced in the UK reflects a continued focus on following the financial trail associated with cybercrime, particularly when cryptocurrency is involved. Authorities say that identifying and seizing assets can serve as a deterrent because many fraud schemes rely on the ability to convert stolen funds into usable currency.
The case is one of the most visible examples of large-scale account compromise tied to cryptocurrency scams. It also underscores the importance of strong internal security controls and employee training for organisations that manage high-value or high-visibility accounts. Platforms that rely on administrative access for account management face persistent risks from social engineering and credential theft. Security specialists say the incident prompted many social media companies to reassess internal processes for privileged access and to implement additional monitoring around sensitive tools.
Site Disclaimer
2-remove-virus.com is not sponsored, owned, affiliated, or linked to malware developers or distributors that are referenced in this article. The article does not promote or endorse any type of malware. We aim at providing useful information that will help computer users to detect and eliminate the unwanted malicious programs from their computers. This can be done manually by following the instructions presented in the article or automatically by implementing the suggested anti-malware tools.
The article is only meant to be used for educational purposes. If you follow the instructions given in the article, you agree to be contracted by the disclaimer. We do not guarantee that the artcile will present you with a solution that removes the malign threats completely. Malware changes constantly, which is why, in some cases, it may be difficult to clean the computer fully by using only the manual removal instructions.