Teenager Graham Ivan Clark has been sentenced to three years behind bars for orchestrating a cryptocurrency scam in which the 17-year-old hacked into the Twitter accounts of Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Uber, Apple, and others. Clark has accepted a plea deal and will spend three years in prison and an additional three years of probation. Clark hijacked several high-profile Twitter accounts, using them to broadcast a cryptocurrency scam and asking followers to send Bitcoin to a specified address with the promise to double the original investment.
However, those who sent the Bitcoin to the listed address never received money back, as it was a sophisticated scam that hundreds fell for. According to ZD.net, Clark was able to secure $117,000 as of July 15. Clark was allegedly the mastermind behind the operation, while two others, Mason Sheppard and Nima Fazeli, have also been convicted for their roles in the scam. Twitter temporarily blocked verified accounts from tweeting as a result of the incident.
Read More: ‘Bit-Con’ Twitter teen hacker accepts plea agreement, three years behind bars
