US teen ‘mastermind’ behind Twitter hack just finished high school

Graham Ivan Clark faces 30 felony charges for hacking 130 Twitter accounts of business titans and celebrities as part of a cryptocurrency scam

The 17-year-old has allegedly been active in hacking since before he was a teenager

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Graham Ivan Clark. Photo: Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office via Reuters

Published: 12:10am, 2 Aug 2020Updated: 12:14am, 2 Aug 2020

The alleged mastermind behind the July 15 hack of Twitter accounts of business titans, celebrities and a former president didn’t need sophisticated hacking tools to pierce the company’s security system. Rather, he convinced an information technology employee at Twitter that he was a colleague who needed login credentials to access the company’s customer support platform, according to law enforcement officials.

It worked, in spectacular fashion.

Graham Ivan Clark, 17, allegedly hijacked 130 Twitter accounts as part of a cryptocurrency scam, according to a criminal affidavit filed in Tampa, Florida. The accounts that were hacked included those of former US president Barack Obama, Amazon Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

Clark, who authorities said had just graduated from high school, now faces 30 felony charges for hacking those accounts, posting messages on their behalf and luring additional victims into sending him bitcoin donations worth more than US$100,000, according to law enforcement.

Two others were charged by federal authorities for allegedly aiding in the scheme by serving as brokers on the sale of compromised Twitter accounts: Mason Sheppard, 19, of the UK, and Nima Fazeli, 22, of Orlando.