In a tale of cyber intrigue, O'Connor's journey began with his arrest in Spain during the summer of 2021. His transgressions revolved around a SIM swap attack, wherein he targeted a crypto exchange executive back in 2019. Eventually, the long arm of the law reached out to extradite him to the United States on April 26, 2023. It was in the month of May that O'Connor admitted guilt, facing an array of charges encompassing conspiracy to commit computer intrusions, wire fraud, and money laundering.
The identity of the unfortunate crypto executive remains shrouded in secrecy, but the details of O'Connor's exploits came to light. Alongside his partners in crime, he executed successful SIM swap attacks on three different executives within a span of two months, from March to May 2019. Their illicit activities granted them unauthorized entry into multiple accounts and computer systems, allowing them to divert and plunder cryptocurrency worth a staggering $794,000 at the time, which has since ballooned to over $1.6 million in value.
Following the heist, O'Connor and his cohorts embarked on a scheme to cleanse their ill-gotten gains. The stolen cryptocurrency underwent a series of transfers and transactions, with some of it exchanged for bitcoin via cryptocurrency exchange services. A portion of the booty found its way into a crypto exchange account under O'Connor's control.
News of O'Connor's prison sentence arrived via an official statement on June 23, courtesy of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York. Alongside the incarceration, he was slapped with a three-year supervised release and a hefty fine amounting to $794,012.64 as forfeiture.
Apart from the SIM swap debacle, O'Connor's guilty plea encompassed a host of other crimes connected to the notorious Twitter hack of July 2020. Alongside his band of miscreants, he breached the security of approximately 130 prominent Twitter, TikTok, and Snapchat accounts, relying on social engineering tactics and SIM-swapping maneuvers. With these compromised accounts in their arsenal, they engaged in fraudulent activities, defrauding unsuspecting Twitter users or peddling access to the compromised profiles.
Among O'Connor's laundry list of charges, one particularly nefarious act was blackmail. He coerced a victim on Snapchat by leveraging the threat of exposing private messages unless they complied with his demand to promote his online persona. Additionally, he engaged in stalking and intimidation, resorting to swatting attacks by falsely reporting emergencies to authorities or sending menacing messages to his victims' families, posing a threat to their lives.
Despite the passage of time, O'Connor's crimes serve as a stark reminder that SIM swap attacks continue to plague the cryptocurrency sector. These malicious acts involve wresting control of a victim's phone number, linking it to an alternate SIM card under the attacker's command. This maneuver allows them to redirect calls and messages, providing access to accounts protected by SMS-based two-factor authentication (2FA).
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