Kids today, right? With their Snapchats and their Fortnites and their hacking of Twitter to the tune of over 100 grand of Bitcoin. Just who do they think they are?
As reported by PC Gamer, via the Tampa Bay Times, a young, wannabe hackerman (I mean, I say wannabe, but, he did it) is facing three years in prison after being found guilty of scamming more than $117,000 of Bitcoin via a Twitter scam that targeted high-profile accounts. Not quite the same as the hack that befell CD Projekt Red, earlier this year. But still, pretty bad.
The charges that the Florida teen faces date back to the summer of 2020, when accounts including those of Elon Musk, Joe Biden, Barak Obama and Bill Gates appeared to promise cash rewards for Bitcoin donations. Pay them a grand in Bitcoin, and they'd repay you two grand in real, American dollars. Seemed too good to be true, right? And, inevitably, it was. There was a naughty kid behind it - the same kid now getting ready for prison time.
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They'd carried out the hack, so says the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, through a Twitter employee. The guilty party had convinced said employee that they were also an employee, in Twitter's IT department. From there, they were able to access Twitter's customer service portal, and take control of several accounts.
Having been arrested in July 2020, just a couple of days after the hacks, the teen has now pleaded guilty to a number of charges levelled against them, including the fraudulent use of personal information and accessing a computer or device without permission. Some 30 charges in total were brought before the judge. The teen has also returned all the fraudulently acquired Bitcoin.
The so-called "mastermind" of the hack, as the Tampa Bay Times calls them, will face the maximum sentence for the charges they're guilty of. And if you're thinking, three years, just three years, is that all? It's because they committed the acts while a minor, while they were 17, and three years is the maximum that's allowed under the State of Florida's Youthful Offender Act.
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State Attorney Andrew Warren issued a statement about the case: "[They need] to be held accountable for that crime, and other potential scammers out there need to see the consequences. In this case, we've been able to deliver those consequences while recognising that our goal with any child, wherever possible, is to have them learn their lesson without destroying their future."
The teen - now 18 years old - will do time in a juvenile facility and then be on three years of probation after their release. However, should they break that probation, it's off to an adult prison for a ten-year spell. So, careful how you go there, ya little hackerman, you.
Featured Image Credit: Twitter, Universal, BitcoinTopics: Twitter