Tampa Teen Arrested On Suspicion Of Being "Mastermind" Behind Twitter Bitcoin Hack

17-year-old Tampa resident Graham Clark was arrested this morning on being the suspected mastermind behind the July 2020 Twitter Hack that affected dozens of high profile accounts, including those of Kanye West, Barack Obama and Joe Biden. After compromising the logins of Twitter employees, the hackers were able to access control of various high profile accounts by using admin tools to reset their passwords. The hack had each account request Bitcoin in exchange for double the amount sent to the account.

According to the local NBC affiliate WFLA, Hillsborough State Attorney Andrew Warren filed 30 felony charges against the teen this week, including one count of organized fraud, 17 counts of communications fraud, one count of fraudulent use of personal information with over $100,000 or 30 or more victims, 10 counts of fraudulent use of personal information and one count of access to computer or electronic device without authority.

Though many deduced the hack was an obvious scam, Clark was nevertheless able to cheat people out of $100,000 in Bitcoin in one day, according to Warren.

The investigation was handled by the FBI and the U.S. State Department, who tracked down Clark in Tampa. Warren said Clark will be tried in Tampa, as that's where he allegedly committed the crime. If convicted, it is currently unclear what his punishment may be.