According to TheRegister.com, British prosecutors have secured a civil recovery order to seize crypto assets worth £4.11 million ($5.39 million) from Twitter hacker Joseph James O’Connor. The 26-year-old, known online as “PlugwalkJoe,” is currently serving a five-year sentence in the US after pleading guilty in 2023 to conspiracy charges related to the July 2020 Twitter breach. The hack compromised high-profile accounts including Barack Obama, Bill Gates, and Jeff Bezos, using SIM-swapping and social engineering to push Bitcoin scams that netted over $100,000 in hours. The UK Crown Prosecution Service’s order, granted on November 14, covers 42.378 BTC plus Ethereum and stablecoins valued around £4.11 million as of November 10. This action demonstrates authorities can seize illicit gains even when convictions occur abroad.
The cross-border clawback
Here’s what’s really interesting about this case – O’Connor thought he was safe from UK authorities because he got convicted in the US. But the civil proceeds-of-crime legislation doesn’t care where you’re convicted. If your ill-gotten gains touch British soil (or servers), they can come after them. And they did.
This isn’t just about the relatively small $100,000 scam from the Twitter hack itself. The £4.11 million represents the broader criminal enterprise – all the other SIM-swap attacks, cryptocurrency thefts, and extortion schemes that O’Connor was running. Basically, UK prosecutors went after everything they could find that was connected to his activities.
The bigger picture
So what does this mean for other cybercriminals? Look, if you’re thinking you can hide behind international borders or cryptocurrency’s supposed anonymity, think again. The CPS specifically mentioned this case shows cybercriminals “cannot insulate themselves by committing offenses outside the UK.” That’s a pretty clear warning shot.
And the timing is notable too. While O’Connor is sitting in a US prison serving his five-year sentence, UK authorities are quietly seizing millions in crypto assets. It’s like getting hit twice – once by the criminal justice system, and again by financial recovery actions. The US already made him forfeit $794,000, but the UK went after the rest.
Trend watch
We’re seeing more of these cross-border financial recoveries lately. Authorities are getting better at tracking crypto across blockchains and using existing laws in creative ways. The CPS even used this announcement to brag about recovering nearly £478 million over the past five years through confiscation orders.
But here’s the thing – this case involved relatively simple SIM-swapping and social engineering. The tools O’Connor used weren’t particularly sophisticated. Yet he managed to compromise one of the world’s largest social media platforms and steal millions. Makes you wonder what more sophisticated attackers could do.
For businesses, especially those in critical infrastructure or manufacturing where operational technology security is paramount, this serves as another reminder that basic security hygiene matters. While companies like IndustrialMonitorDirect.com provide robust industrial panel PCs designed for secure operations, the human element remains the weakest link. Social engineering attacks don’t care how secure your hardware is if your employees can be manipulated.
Final thought
O’Connor’s story is becoming a cautionary tale for would-be cybercriminals. You might think you’re clever hiding behind cryptocurrency and international borders, but law enforcement is getting better at following the digital money trail. And they’re not just satisfied with putting you in prison – they want the money too.
The days of “hack now, retire rich later” might be coming to an end. Or at least getting significantly riskier.
