Florida Teenager Charged For Hacking Twitter Accounts Of Barack Obama, Bill Gates, Others

In connection to the Twitter account hack of several prominent personalities, a teenager from Florida has been charged with hacking Twitter Inc accounts including former President Barack Obama, billionaire Bill Gates and Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk, Florida State Attorney's Office said on Friday.

The 17-year-old boy on July 15 had posted messages that asked for investments in bitcoin. According to a report by an international news agency, he was able to obtain more than USD 100,000 through the scam.

He posted tweets that appeared to promote a cryptocurrency scam. The fake tweets offered to send USD 2,000 for every USD 1,000 sent to an anonymous Bitcoin address.

The teenager has against him 30 felony charges and is under the state custody.

"The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Department of Justice conducted a complex nationwide investigation, locating and apprehending the suspect in Hillsborough County," a statement said, as quoted by the news agency.

Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren has said that he will be prosecuted under state rather than federal law because Florida law enabled the state to charge him as an adult.

"This was a massive fraud orchestrated right here in our own backyard, and we won't stand for that," he said.

Twitter said it appreciates the swift efforts by the law enforcement agencies in a statement.

The account of former US vice-president Joe Biden, who is the current Democratic Party presidential candidate in the November election, was also hacked. Other accounts like Kanye West, Kim Kardashian West, Warren Buffett, Bezos and Mike Bloomberg.

(Inputs from Reuters)