Teen Accused In Bitcoin Scam Hacked Kanye, Obama Twitter Accounts

TAMPA, FL — A 17-year-old Tampa resident is accused of hacking into the Twitter accounts of prominent people, including Bill Gates and Barack Obama, stealing more than $100,000 in Bitcoin cryptocurrency.

According to Hillsborough State Attorney Andrew Warren, Graham Ivan Clark, who lives in the Greater Northdale community of Tampa, was arrested Friday after being identified as the mastermind behind a complex Bitcoin scam that targeted people around the country.

“He’s a 17 year-old kid who apparently just graduated high school,” Warren said during a news conference. “But no make no mistake, this was no ordinary 17-year-old. This was a highly sophisticated attack on a magnitude not seen before.”

Clark's been charged with 30 felony counts including one count of organized fraud, 17 counts of communications fraud, one count of fraudulent use of personal information with more than $100,000 or 30 or more victims, 10 counts of fraudulent use of personal information and one count of access to computer or electronic device without authority.

Though Clark is technically a minor, Warren said his office will prosecute Clark as an adult. Florida law allows minors to be charged as adults in financial fraud cases.

According to Warren, on July 15 Clark posted Twitter messages in the names of famous people including Gates, Obama, presumed Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Joe Biden, rapper Kanye West, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Mike Bloomberg, Kim Kardashian, Wiz Khalifa, Floyd Mayweather and Elon Musk. Victims were told to send Bitcoin to accounts that were associated with Clark.

The messages invited Twitter fans to give back to their communities by supporting Bitcoin. In return, the celebrity would double the fan's investment, the scam notice said.

Courtesy Twitter

In a single day, Clark received more than $100,000 in the cryptocurrency.

“These crimes were perpetrated using the names of famous people and celebrities, but they’re not the primary victims here. This Bit-Con was designed to steal money from regular Americans from all over the country, including here in Florida," said Warren. "This massive fraud was orchestrated right here in our backyard, and we will not stand for that."

According to Twitter, which conducted an internal investigation into the hack, Clark targeted Twitter employees using a "phone spear-phishing attack" that allowed Clark to access Twitter's internal controls.

Twitter said 130 accounts were targeted in the scam with tweets sent by the hackers from 45 of those accounts. There were 36 accounts in which the hackers took control of the accounts and viewed the direct message boxes of the account holders.

The social media platform provided details of the hack and thanked law enforcement for quickly resolving the case.

"We appreciate the swift actions of law enforcement in this investigation and will continue to cooperate as the case progresses. For our part, we are focused on being transparent and providing updates regularly," said Twitter. "We’ll provide a more detailed report on what occurred at a later date given the ongoing law enforcement investigation and after we’ve completed work to further safeguard our service."

Warren said the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California, the Internal Revenue Service, the Secret Service and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement also helped "to investigate and identify the perpetrator of a sophisticated and extensive fraud."

Clark is being held without bail in the Hillsborough County jail. He is expected to make his first court appearance on Saturday.

Charged in the scam along with Clark were Nima Fazeli, 22, of Orlando, and Mason Sheppard, 19, of the United Kingdom.

Sheppard, who goes by the hacking alias “Chaewon,” has been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and intentional access of a protected computer.

Fazeli, aka “Rolex,” is charged with aiding and abetting the intentional access of a protected computer.