Cybercrime The crazy life of John McAfee before he died in a Catalan prison when he learned that he was going to be extradited: drugs, scholarship holders, prostitutes, weapons and escapes
Cybercrime Twenty-something Arrested in Estepona Accused of Hacking Joe Biden and Other US Politicians
Fugitive and wealthy cybercrime: the life on the run of Spain's biggest cyber scammer
"I don't care.
Let them come and arrest me, I'm going to laugh at them
. I haven't done anything."
This is the challenge that Joshep O'Connor launched to the authorities about his alleged involvement in the massive hack of Twitter accounts for which the Malaga town of Estepona has been arrested.
However, when the National Police knocked on his door,
the tone of the message changed: "I am innocent
. Show me the evidence because I have nothing to do with it."
The first quote corresponds to the words O'Connor said to a New York Times reporter who asked him about his involvement in the events.
The second were the words that
according to his mother
Joseph O'Connor to the Spanish police before they put the shackles on him.
Although O'Connor's tone has changed, the young man has assured his innocence at all times and even went so far as to assure that he had an alibi at the time of the hacks that affected US President Joe Biden. , former President Barack Obama, Elon Musk or Bill Gates among others.
According to his own testimony, the 22-year-old assures that he
was "having a massage near his home in Estepona" when the hacks occurred
.
However, O'Connor is
charged with a total of 10 criminal charges in the United States
for five different crimes, and not all of them are related to mass hacking.
Against him there are
five charges for the crime of conspiracy to access a
protected
computer
without permission to obtain information, one charge for the crime of accessing a protected computer with the intention of extorting a person, a crime of extortion, a crime of threats and
two crimes of cyberbullying
.
In provisional prison without bail
After his arrest O'Connor was brought to justice and, despite emphasizing his innocence at all times,
the judge decreed provisional detention without bail,
alleging the seriousness of the crimes for which he is required in the United States and the risk of flight.
An admission to prison that occurs a month after John McAfee committed suicide in his cell in the Barcelona prison of Brians after hearing the judicial decision that he
would be extradited to the United States
.
Both O'Connor's lawyer and mother have been against this measure, assuring that the 22-year-old
does not have a panel history and that he suffers from "serious health problems
and a back injury."
Unless the court overturns its decision, O'Connor is expected to remain in jail until his extradition hearing is held,
a process that could take several months
.
A year and a half under the radar of the National Police
The detainee, Joseph O'Connor.
O'Connor's involvement in the attack was first reported by the specialized cybersecurity portal
KrebsonSecurity
more than a year ago.
However, the young man
had remained in Spain during this time without being required by the US authorities
.
Despite the fact that O'Connor's involvement - known on the internet by the alias
PlugWalkJoe
- was known a few days after the attack took place in July 2020, the young resident in Spain had been
on the radar of the Spanish authorities since April of that same year
.
According to a statement from the National Police, "the investigation in Spain began in April 2020 [months before the massive hacking of Twitter accounts [when the agents learned of the existence of a group of cybercriminals dedicated to committing scams in the network. it
was the Attaché of the FBI in Madrid
which informed the National Police who
were investigating this criminal group
in which also would allegedly involved an individual of British origin, resident in Marbella, whose location would be of interest to authorities of your country ".
A young British man who turned out to be O'Connor and in whose arrest, according to the Department of Justice of the United States,
also participated the Secret Service of the United States
(the body in charge of the protection of the president) since one of the victims of the hack was the current president Joe Biden.
However, according to the National Police, O'Connor's alleged misdeeds in the United States went further and the young man is accused of committing
swatting
.
This is a dangerous criminal modality that consists of deceiving the emergency services,
giving a false warning
that a serious incident is taking place at the home of the victims and
requiring a rapid response and intervention by the elite units of the US police ( SWAT)
.
The practice, punishable by prison terms of up to 5 years,
has cost the lives of several innocent victims (either shot by the police during the assault
or the result of a heart attack due to fright) throughout the country.
A
guru
of criptomonedas
At the time that the Spanish police laid an eye on him, this Estepona resident already had a
certain fame in the specialized cryptocurrency portals
that promoted his profile as a "
guru
" of the blockchain or "investment mentor" despite the fact that the young man is only 22 years old.
O'Connor
boasted that he had made $ 50,000 from Bitcoin and lost $ 20,000 in just one week
.
An experience that supposedly "taught him everything he should know to become an investment advisor," according to a press release promoting his services.
In prison and with his work tools seized (the police have taken his two computers and his mobile phone to perform a forensic analysis) O'Connor's career as a
blockchain
guru
has been on
standby
waiting for a judge Spanish decide on your fate.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
Know more
National Police
United States
Joe biden
Twitter
Bitcoin
Madrid
Elon musk
Barack Obama
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