Move over, Florida Man. Florida Teen is here to do your dirty work.
A 17-year-old in Tampa, Florida has reportedly been arrested for being the “mastermind” behind the July 15 Twitter hack that took over the profiles of Barack Obama, Bill Gates, Elon Musk, and 42 other accounts in order to push a cryptocurrency scam.
According to a report from Florida’s local NBC news Channel 8, jail records and the Hillsborough State Attorney’s Office show that authorities booked the teenager on “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.”
Local authorities collaborated with federal law enforcement to bring the not-yet-eligible-to-vote hacker in for what Hillsborough State Attorney Andrew Warren described as “sophisticated and extensive fraud.”
“This massive fraud was orchestrated right here in our backyard, and we will not stand for that,” Warren said.
It’s not clear from the report whether the teen acted alone or with accomplices. However, an update on Twitter’s company blog this week referred to the perpetrators as “attackers.”
Twitter said attackers used a “phone spear phishing” scheme to get employee credentials that enabled them to take over accounts. The hackers accessed 45 accounts, and netted over $100,000 in Bitcoin.
Kids these days!