Fraudulent Scheme Involving High-Profile Individuals
A British citizen, Joseph James O’Connor, has been mandated to return over $5 million in cryptocurrency as part of the penalties for his involvement in a fraudulent scheme that utilized hacked social media profiles of high-profile individuals, including former U.S. President Barack Obama and Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk, to steal Bitcoin from unsuspecting victims.
Details of the Operation
O’Connor was implicated in a broader SIM-swapping operation that resulted in the infiltration of numerous significant social media accounts, leading to losses around $794,000 worth of cryptocurrency at the time of the offenses. According to Adrian Foster, Chief Crown Prosecutor for the Proceeds of Crime Division, O’Connor specifically targeted notable figures and exploited their accounts to deceive internet users, extracting money and crypto assets.
Legal Consequences
In 2023, O’Connor confessed to the charges, receiving a five-year prison sentence from a court in the Southern District of New York. Initially, he was sentenced to forfeit an amount of $794,012.64, but now faces additional financial repercussions stemming from a civil recovery order in coordination with the U.K. Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). This order includes a substantial amount of Bitcoin, estimated at £4.1 million, which is approximately valued at $5.4 million today. Along with Bitcoin, he is also required to remit around 235 Ethereum and 143,000 BUSD—Binance’s now-obsolete dollar-pegged stablecoin.
Scams and Trends in Cryptocurrency
Scammers have regularly taken advantage of hijacked social media accounts to lure users into transferring their cryptocurrency under false pretenses. Typically, these scams involve requests for small transfers of Bitcoin with the promise of higher returns. Recent trends in such scams have revolved around meme coins; for instance, a fraudulent meme coin associated with the UFC was promoted after hackers seized an Instagram account, resulting in $1.4 million in losses earlier this year. Another incident involved the takeover of McDonald’s Instagram, which led to the creation of a fake Grimace token and resulted in $700,000 for the fraudsters.
Impact of Cryptocurrency Crimes
Data from Chainalysis, a blockchain analytics firm, reveals that cryptocurrency-related crimes have accounted for over $2.1 billion in thefts targeting cryptocurrency users in just the first half of 2025, with personal wallet breaches becoming an increasingly significant aspect of the illicit activities.
Conclusion
The case highlights the ongoing issue of online fraud and the importance of securing social media accounts to protect against such malicious activities in the digital age.
