How Naoki Hiroshima Lost His Twitter Name Through Extortion

Naoki Hiroshima:

I had a rare Twitter username, @N. Yep, just one letter. I’ve been offered as much as $50,000 for it. People have tried to steal it. Password reset instructions are a regular sight in my email inbox. As of today, I no longer control @N. I was extorted into giving it up.

The attacker called PayPal on the phone, and convinced them to give him the last four digits of his credit card number. He then used that information to convince GoDaddy to hand over control of Hiroshima’s domain name. Flabbergasting.

What I don’t understand: Now that this story has been publicized, why hasn’t Twitter intervened to give back Hiroshima his Twitter name?

See also: This very similar story from Josh Bryant.

★ Wednesday, 29 January 2014