A Tampa teenager who hacked the Twitter accounts of Apple and many other companies and celebrities agreed to a plea agreement that puts him in a juvenile facility for three years.
Graham Clark plead guilty to all the charges brought against him, removing the need for a trial. His years of incarceration will be in a juvenile facility, and will be reduced by the 7+ months of time he’s been behind bars since his arrest after the 2020 Twitter hack. He must also serve 3 years of probation.
“Graham Clark needs to be held accountable for that crime, and other potential scammers out there need to see the consequences,” said Hillsborough State Attorney Andrew Warren in a statement.
Apple’s Twitter account was hacked in Bitcoin scam
In July 2020, Apple’s Twitter account made its very first post: “We are giving back to our community. We support Bitcoin and we believe you should too! All Bitcoin is sent to our address below will be sent back to you doubled!” It wasn’t real, of course. It was from Clark.
At the same time, scam posts with essentially the same wording appeared on many, many more Twitter accounts, including those of President Joe Biden, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Jeff Bezos, Kanye West and many more.
“He took over the accounts of famous people, but the money he stole came from regular, hard-working people,” said Warren. The scam reportedly netted over $100,000 in Bitcoin. But Clark was arrested soon afterward.
