U.S. teen arrested in alleged involvement in Twitter hack

WASHINGTON, July 31 (Xinhua) -- A 17-year-old U.S. teenager was arrested in Tampa, southeastern state of Florida, on Friday for his alleged involvement in a massive Twitter hack earlier this month.

Hillsborough State Attorney Andrew Warren filed 30 felony charges against the minor for "scamming people across America" regarding the hacking incident.

"We appreciate the swift actions of law enforcement in this investigation and will continue to cooperate as the case progresses," Twitter said in a statement on Friday.

The hack, which took place July 15, took over the accounts of prominent users, including former U.S. President Barack Obama, 2020 presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, to promote a bitcoin scam.

Twitter has said the hacker obtained employee credentials to target 130 accounts.