PlugwalkJoe Receives 5 Years Sentence for Crypto Theft

Joseph O’Connor, also known online as PlugwalkJoe, was sentenced to five years in U.S. prison for his role in the April 2019 theft of $794,000 worth of cryptocurrency via a SIM swap assault on a crypto exchange executive.

O’Connor was apprehended in Spain in July 2021 and extradited to the United States on April 26, 2023. In May, he pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including conspiracy to conduct computer intrusions, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

In a statement released on June 23, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York highlighted the prison sentence.

“In addition to his prison sentence, O’Connor was given three years of supervised release. O’Connor was also ordered to forfeit $794,012.64, according to the statement.

O’Connor acquired unauthorized access to the crypto exec’s exchange’s accounts and computing systems by swapping their SIM cards. The identity of the compromised crypto exec has not been disclosed.

“After stealing and fraudulently diverting the stolen cryptocurrency, O’Connor and his co-conspirators laundered it through dozens of transfers and transactions and exchanged some of it for Bitcoin using cryptocurrency exchange services.”

“Ultimately, a portion of the stolen cryptocurrency was deposited into an exchange account controlled by O’Connor,” according to the statement.

O’Connor’s sentence also encompasses offenses related to the significant Twitter breach of July 2020, which netted him and his crew approximately $120,000 in illicit cryptocurrency gains.

Using a succession of “social engineering techniques” and SIM-swapping attacks, the hackers compromised approximately 130 prominent Twitter accounts, as well as two prominent TikTok and Snapchat accounts.

“In certain instances, co-conspirators seized control and used it to initiate a scheme to defraud other Twitter users. In other cases, the co-conspirators sold Twitter account access to third parties, according to the statement.

As part of this scheme, O’Connor attempted to blackmail the Snapchat victim by threatening to publicize their private communications if they did not promote his online persona.

In addition, O’Connor “stalked and threatened” a victim and “orchestrated a series of swatting attacks” against them by filing false emergency reports with authorities.

Even though O’Connor’s antics occurred roughly three years ago, SIM-swapping assaults remain a significant problem in the crypto industry.

This month, blockchain sleuth ZachXBT identified a group of fraudsters who SIM-swapped at least eight accounts belonging to prominent crypto figures, including Pudgy Penguins founder Cole Villemain, DJ and NFT collector Steve Aoki, and Bitcoin Magazine editor Pete Rizzo.

According to ZachXBT, the group plundered nearly $1 million by promoting from the compromised accounts.