Security News > 2021 > July > UK Man Arrested in Spain, Charged in US With Twitter Hack
A British man has been charged in the United States in connection with a Twitter hack last summer that compromised the accounts of prominent politicians, celebrities and technology moguls, the Justice Department said Wednesday.
Joseph O'Connor, 22, was arrested in the coastal resort town of Estepona, Spain, on an arrest warrant accusing him of involvement in a July 2020 hack of more than 130 accounts, and of hacks that prosecutors said took over TikTok and Snapchat accounts, including "One of the most viewed and followed" TikTok stars.
Warren said Clark was involved in the social engineering and hacking to get access to the Twitter accounts, as well as selling the accounts and sending out the tweets.
The complaint against O'Connor on Wednesday said he conspired with Clark and others to benefit from the hack of Twitter accounts.
Online chats obtained by investigators show that during the hack O'Connor expressed interest in buying some high-profile accounts, including Donald Trump's.
Known as "OG" or "Original gangster" accounts, are typically short and might have been created when Twitter was in its earliest stages more than a decade ago.