Joseph O'Connor, known in some corners of the internet as PlugWalkJoe, was indicted on an array of charges relating to a May 2022 cryptocurrency substitution hack. During the assault, he is declared to have absconded with digital avails valued at approximately $784,000.

In the criminal scheme, authorities believe O'Connor utilized SIM bandy attacks (an bamboozlement of fraud where 2FA telephone calls and text messages are rerouted to a device controlled past the scammer) on three split up executives at an undisclosed cryptocurrency company to accept control of their employers' systems. O'Connor may have then diverted over 7 BTC, 407 ETH, 6363 LTC and 770 BCH from wallets maintained by the corporation on behalf of their users to wallets under his ain control.

The indictment was brought by the Us Chaser's function in the Southern District of New York, which is well known for its prosecution of high-contour financial crimes. The case is assigned to Judge Richard Berman and was investigated past the FBI. O'Connor is specifically charged with conspiracy to commit computer hacking, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and aggravated identity theft. The identity theft count carries a mandatory minimum of 2 years in prison house to exist served sequent to whatever other judgement imposed.

O'Connor is currently fighting extradition to the United States from Spain, where he was arrested in July on charges brought in the Northern District of California related to the 2022 Twitter hack in which he is alleged to accept gained control of 130 separate prominent Twitter accounts — including those of Barack Obama, Elon Musk, Apple tree and Kanye W. The guilty parties used these accounts to promote a cryptocurrency scam before making off with about $110,000 in sick-gotten gains.