A hacker in the UK was ordered to repay over £4 million in Bitcoin after hacking celebrity accounts

According to Sky News in the UK, British prosecutors revealed that 26-year-old British man Joseph James O'Connor hacked into the X accounts of several celebrities to scam Bitcoin and has been ordered to return approximately £4.1 million in cryptocurrency. In 2023, he was sentenced to five years in the United States for crimes including computer intrusion, wire fraud, and extortion.

In 2021, O'Connor was arrested in Spain, and after a ruling by the country's high court, it was determined that due to the evidence and victims being in the United States, the U.S. was the most appropriate jurisdiction for prosecution, leading to his extradition to the U.S. In July 2020, the social X platform suffered a massive hacking attack, compromising the accounts of celebrities such as Obama, Biden, and Bezos. O'Connor, along with others, used these hacked accounts to set up scams, tricking users into sending Bitcoin worth $1,000 with the promise of double returns, thereby stealing over $794,000 in cryptocurrency and threatening the celebrities.

On Monday, the UK's Crown Prosecution Service stated that it had obtained a civil recovery order, seizing 42 Bitcoins and other assets. This valuation was determined after freezing his assets, which the prosecution ensured during the extradition.