A 17-year-old Florida boy masterminded the hacking of celebrity accounts on Twitter Inc., including those of Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Joe Biden and Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk, officials said on Friday.
A 19-year-old British man and a 22-year-old man in Orlando, Florida, were also charged under U.S. federal law with aiding the attack, the Justice Department said.
A Florida prosecutor identified the 17-year-old as Graham Clark of Tampa and charged him as an adult with 30 felony counts of fraud. Clark netted at least $100,000 from the scheme by using the celebrity accounts to solicit investments from unsuspecting Twitter users, state officials said.