17-Year-Old and Accomplices Charged in Twitter Hack
On the evening of July 31, 2020, U.S. law enforcement held a press conference to announce the arrest of the main “mastermind” behind the Twitter hack. The suspect is 17-year-old Graham Ivan Clark from Florida, who is reportedly known online as Kirk.
A joint investigation by the FBI, IRS, Department of Justice, and Secret Service identified Clark’s alleged accomplices: 19-year-old Mason Sheppard (“Chaewon”) from the UK and 22-year-old Nima Fazeli (“Rolex”) from Florida.
Charges Against Graham Ivan Clark
Clark faces 30 charges, including:
- Financial fraud (over $50,000)
- Communications fraud (over $300)
- Identity fraud (over $100,000 or more than 30 victims)
- Misuse of personal information
- Unauthorized access to computers or electronic devices (conspiracy to commit fraud)
“He’s a 17-year-old who just graduated high school, but make no mistake, he’s not your average teenager. This was an extremely sophisticated attack, unprecedented in scale. The fact that he only managed to get $100,000 in a day is because he was caught so quickly. But remember, this isn’t just about money—this hack could have destabilized financial markets in America and around the world, since he gained access to the accounts of the most influential politicians. He could have harmed American politics and international diplomacy. This is not a game; these are serious crimes with serious consequences. If you think you can scam people online and get away with it, you’re in for a rude awakening. That rude awakening will come at 6 a.m. when federal agents knock on your door,” said Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren.
Interestingly, Clark will be tried as an adult, since the case is being handled in Tampa, where he lives. Florida law allows minors to be charged and tried as adults in cases of financial fraud.
Details of the Twitter Hack
In mid-July, Twitter suffered the largest attack in its history. Numerous accounts belonging to public figures, companies, and cryptocurrency exchanges were compromised. Victims included Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Warren Buffett, Kanye West, Kim Kardashian, Apple, Uber, and major crypto exchanges like CoinDesk, Binance, and Gemini.
The hackers used their access to these high-profile accounts to run a fake Bitcoin giveaway. Using a classic scam tactic, they asked followers to send a small amount of cryptocurrency, promising to double and return any amount received.
Surprisingly, even in 2020, many people believed that Bill Gates, Elon Musk, and other famous individuals and companies were suddenly giving away Bitcoin. As a result, the scammers “earned” about 13 BTC, or roughly $120,000.
According to Twitter’s preliminary investigation, the attack was the result of several employees being compromised and affected a relatively small number of accounts. Only 130 accounts were targeted, and passwords were reset for 45 of them, allowing the hackers to post fraudulent messages. For seven accounts, the attackers downloaded all available account data using the “Your Twitter Data” tool. None of these seven accounts were verified (no blue checkmark). The hackers also viewed private messages from 36 compromised accounts, including one belonging to an unnamed Dutch politician.