Three arrested in Twitter hack

A Florida teenager and two others have been arrested for allegedly perpetrating a major Twitter hack earlier this month that resulted in several prominent accounts posting messages for a bitcoin scam.

The Department of Justice announced that U.K. resident Mason Shepard, 19, and Orlando resident Nima Fazeli, 22, who go by the hacking aliases “Chaewon” and “Rolex” respectively, were charged with helping carry out the hack. A third person, a 17-year-old who lives in Tampa, has also been charged.

The 17-year-old is facing 30 felony charges including organized fraud, communications fraud, identity theft and hacking, carrying potential penalties of more than $100,000. Those charges have been filed in Florida by Hillsborough State Attorney Andrew Warren, who described the teenager as the “mastermind” of the hack.

Shepard and Fazeli, meanwhile, have been charged in federal court in California. Shepard was charged with computer intrusion, wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy, with the most serious charge bringing 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Fazeli was charged with one count of computer intrusion, which carries a max sentence of five years and a $250,000 fine.

The hack, which took place July 15, affected a number of prominent Twitter accounts, including those of former President Obama, former Vice President Joe Biden, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, among others.

Authorities say the defendants were able to reap more than $100,000 in bitcoin by posting messages on the hacked accounts asking followers to send funds.

Twitter later said that the hackers obtained employee credentials, allowing them to target 130 accounts, tweeting from 45, accessing direct message inboxes of 36 and downloading data from seven. Twitter temporarily prevented verified accounts from tweeting on the day of the incident, and announced an immediate investigation into what occurred.

“Today’s charging announcement demonstrates that the elation of nefarious hacking into a secure environment for fun or profit will be short-lived,” U.S. Attorney David Anderson said in a statement.

“In particular, I want to say to would-be offenders, break the law, and we will find you,” Anderson said.