Three people believed to be connected to the hacking of several Twitter accounts of prominent celebrities and politicians last month were formally charged by authorities. The charged individuals included a 22-year old and a 19-year old, along with a minor, who is believed to be the mastermind of the entire operation.
The oldest of the bunch is 22-year old Nami Fazeli, known online as "Rolex," from Orlando, Florida. The other person charged was 19-year-old Mason Sheppard, known online as "Chaewon," who is originally from the United Kingdom. According to a statement published by United States Attorney David Anderson, the minor that was arrested on Friday was 17-year-old Florida resident, Graham Ivan Clark.
Federal and state investors revealed that they have reason to believe that Clark was the head of the cyberattack on Twitter. Hillsborough State Attorney Andrew Warren mentioned in a statement that Clark may have masterminded the entire attack, which had affected the Twitter accounts of prominent individuals such as Elon Musk, Joe Biden, Kanye West, and Bill Gates along with official accounts of major companies such as Apple.
Hillsborough authorities said that the individuals will be prosecuted in Florida, as the state allows for more flexibility in charging minors as adults. Authorities further warned that the notion that these types of cyberattacks will remain anonymous and without consequence is false and that those caught will face punishment.
FBI San Francisco Assistant Special Agent in Charge Sanjay Virmani said in an interview that the investigation into the hack is still ongoing and the agency is still attempting to identify other people that may have been involved in the crime.
According to a criminal affidavit that was filed in Florida, Clark reportedly convinced one of Twitter's employees to give him access to the company's customer service portal. Clark was masquerading as a Twitter employee who needed new credentials to access the portal. Once he was given access, Clark accessed more than 130 accounts and used them to post similar messages asking the public to send money to a Bitcoin address.
A federal indictment revealed that more than $117,457.58 was sent to the Bitcoin address through 415 separate transfers. Intelligence officers had ruled out speculation that the attacks were perpetrated by foreign governments. It is instead believed that the motive behind the attacks was simply monetary in nature from both the Bitcoin theft and the sale of access to the hacked accounts.
Even before the Twitter hack, Clark was reportedly already being investigated by federal authorities. In April, Secret Service agents reportedly confiscated over $700,000 worth of Bitcoin from the 17-year-old. The exact details of the incident have not been made public.
