The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) of the United Kingdom has decided to recover £4.1 million (approximately $5.4 million) in Bitcoin from Joseph O'Connor, a hacker from Britain. This decision is related to his involvement in a major hack of approximately 130 celebrity accounts on Twitter, as reported by local media citing information from the prosecution's press service.
According to the agency, O'Connor is required to return 42 Bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies that he obtained through his fraudulent activities. The total value of these assets amounts to £4.1 million.
The prosecution noted that the hacker deliberately targeted the accounts of well-known individuals, using them to deceive users and illegally obtain funds.
This incident took place in July 2020. During that time, identical messages appeared on the pages of well-known companies and celebrities, asking users to transfer cryptocurrency to specified addresses, with a promise to return double the amount.
Among the victims were accounts of such figures as Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffett, Kanye West, and former U.S. President Barack Obama. As a result of the attack, approximately 130 accounts were compromised.
