In some cases, the co-conspirators took control themselves and used that control to launch a plan to defraud other Twitter users. In other cases, the co-conspirators sold access to Twitter accounts to others. O’CONNOR communicated with others about buying unauthorized access to various Twitter accounts, including accounts linked to public figures around the world. A number of Twitter accounts targeted by O’CONNOR were subsequently turned over to their rightful owners. O’CONNOR agreed to buy unauthorized access to one Twitter account for $10,000.
PlugwalkJoe also took over an unnamed TikTok user account in 2020 and the details listed suggest it’s an unnamed victim top TikToker Addison Rae. At the time, Rae’s TikTok account name changed to “joeandzak1” and her bio read “plugwalkjoe zak n crippin.” The DOJ also says PlugwalkJoe and co-conspirators targeted another high-profile user’s Snapchat account in 2019 and threatened to make their private photos public. In this case, the victim appears to be Bella Thorne, who publicly thanked the FBI for O’Connor’s arrest.
A separate case from the Southern District of New York accuses O’Connor and conspirators of SIM swapping, or gaining control of a victim’s phone number, as part of a scheme that resulted in the theft of $794,000 in crypto from a unnamed, Manhattan-based company that “provided wallet infrastructure and related software to cryptocurrency”.
O’Connor used his advanced technological skills for malicious purposes – conducting a complex SIM swap attack to steal large amounts of cryptocurrency, hacking into Twitter, performing computer break-ins to take over social media accounts and even cyberstalking of two victims, including a minor victim.” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams of the Southern District of New York said in a statement.
O’Connor was arrested in Spain in 2021 on multiple charges, including three counts of conspiracy to intentionally gain unauthorized access to a computer, making threatening messages once, cyberstalking twice and more. He will be sentenced on June 23 and has agreed to forfeit more than $794,000 to the victims of his scam.
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