HACKED OFF

Jail for the expat recluse who hacked the US establishment from his bedroom in Estepona

THE expat mother of a reclusive British hacker jailed for five years in the US has revealed she thought he was ‘safe in his room’ on the Costa del Sol.

Sandra O’Connor told a US court she believed he was ‘not being exposed to the dangers of alcohol, drugs or bullying’.

“In fact, he was involved in a far worse world,” the former lawyer told a New York judge. It came as her son, Joseph James O’Connor, was handed down the prison sentence for hacking into the Twitter accounts of, among others, Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

The 24-year-old was arrested at his home in Estepona in July 2021 after he undertook the hacking as part of a Bitcoin scam.

Liverpool-born O’Connor, who used the handle PlugwalkJoe, was extradited to America in April to await this week’s sentence.

His long-suffering mother, who was in New York for the hearings, told the court: “I wish I could have had more insight into this online gaming world he entered, and the dangers and influences he encountered.

“I didn’t even realise it was occurring,” added the mother-ofthree.

The ex-criminal lawyer be-

By Walter Finch

lieved that, after a troubled early childhood of bullying back home in Liverpool, a move to Spain would do her son some good.

While he spent most of his time in his room on computers, she felt his reclusive nature would at least keep him safe from ‘a world on the outside which he was ill-equipped to navigate.’ However, O’Connor was part of a hacking ring that shocked the online world when it managed to very publicly penetrate Twitter’s detailed security in 2020.

SCAM

The scam involved posting directly to an estimated 350 million followers of Elon Musk, Kanye West, Kim Kardashian and Bill Gates accounts, among many others.

One bogus tweet from Biden read: “I am giving back to the community. All bitcoin sent to the address below will be sent back doubled! If you send $1,000, I will send back $2,000. Only doing this for 30 minutes.”

Although the ploy seemed an obvious fraud, an analysis revealed that 13 Bitcoins were transferred to the hackers’ wallet in 383 transactions in the following 24 hours - or $117,000 (€107,000).

O’Connor also stalked underage girls and tried to extort famous people on other social networks, such as TikTok and Snapchat.

He hacked the actress Bella Thorne and stole 13 naked photos which he threatened to release if she did not promote his social accounts.

“It’ll be the entire internet looking at your personal shit,” one of his group of hacker friends wrote to her.

Thorne posted the pictures herself. “F*** u and the power you think u have over me,” she replied. “The FBI will be at your house shortly.”

O’Connor had laughed off the dangers of the US authorities when the New York Times managed to track him down.

“I don’t care,” he insisted. “They can come arrest me. I would laugh at them. I haven’t done anything.” But that is exactly what hap-

City Clean Up

RECLUSE: in cuffs and mum (below)

pened when the Policia Nacional hauled the social recluse out of his bedroom hideaway in July 2021 in cooperation with the FBI. Among the charges were a conspiracy to commit computer intrusions, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, as well as stalking two victims. The prosecution had requested the maximum sentence of 70 years jail for O’Connor for the ten criminal charges.

In an appeal to Judge Rakoff for clemency, O’Connor apologised for his deeds. “I’m sorry. My crimes were stupid and senseless. I want a life that makes sense.”

He has been ordered to pay $794,000 the amount he received from his scam.

“Two years later, it’s still hard to understand how harmless gaming led to this,” Sandra told the court. “I am realistic that I have played a significant role in Joseph’s actions but ultimately, it is he who must take the responsibility.

VALENCIA’S new PP mayor has announced that cleaning is being doubled in the city.

The €140,000 promise was one of Maria Jose Catala’s key pledges in her election campaign.

All streets, as well as gardens and parks under 5,000 m2 will be swept every 10 days as opposed to 21 days.

“The city will now be swept three times a month,” he explained. “It is a necessity to clean up the image of Valencia,” she added. The budget increase will pay for extra staff and collection teams.

Tragic death

A SEVEN-YEAR-OLD boy died when a brick pillar collapsed on him as he played outside his family’s finca in Sax.

The Spanish youngster was on an access road to the property when he was crushed by the crumbling masonry. He suffered a severe head injury and later died in hospital.

PUBLIC hospital waiting times for surgeries have fallen in the Valencian Community. According to the Ministry of Health, the average wait stood at 79 days in May - five days fewer than in April and 10 days less than a year earlier.