"British prosecutors have secured a civil recovery order to seize crypto assets worth £4.11 million ($5.39 million) from Twitter hacker Joseph James O'Connor, clawing back the proceeds of a scam that used hijacked celebrity accounts to solicit digital currency and threaten high-profile individuals. O'Connor, now 26, is already serving a five-year sentence in the US after pleading guilty in 2023 to conspiracy to commit computer intrusions, wire fraud, and money laundering"
"The group behind the intrusion used SIM-swapping and social engineering techniques to access internal Twitter tools, then pushed bogus messages urging followers to send Bitcoin to attacker-controlled wallets - a ruse that netted more than $100,000 in a matter of hours. The British Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said on Monday that its financial recovery action, granted on November 14, covers assets including 42.378 BTC, Ethereum, and various dollar-pegged stablecoins, collectively valued at around £4.11 million as of November 10."
British authorities obtained a civil recovery order to seize about £4.11 million in cryptocurrency linked to Joseph James O'Connor. O'Connor pleaded guilty in 2023 and is serving a five-year US sentence for conspiracy related to a July 2020 Twitter breach that compromised celebrity accounts. Attackers used SIM-swapping and social engineering to access internal Twitter tools and posted bogus messages soliciting Bitcoin, netting over $100,000. The recovery order covers 42.378 BTC, Ethereum, and dollar-pegged stablecoins and relies on civil proceeds-of-crime legislation to reclaim illicit gains even when convictions occurred abroad. The action underscores cross-border asset recovery capabilities to prevent criminals from benefiting from online fraud.
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