The FBI has arrested an Alabama world who allegedly hack the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ’s X ( formerly Twitter ) account for carry erroneous information about Bitcoin that briefly drove the price of the cryptocurrency up by $ 1,000 .
The U.S. Attorney ’s Office for the District of Columbia say Eric Council Jr. received personally name entropy and an ID guide from co - conspirators that allowed him to make a fake ID card for someone with access to the SEC ’s ten score . He allegedly then used that ID wit at a cellular phone phone store in Huntsville , Alabama to get an iPhone with a SIM lineup link up to the victim ’s speech sound number .
Using the spoof telephone set , Council allegedly helped co - machinator sign in to the SEC ’s Adam account , from which theyposted a tweetfalsely claiming that “ Today the SEC grant approval for # Bitcoin ETFs for name on all registered national securities exchanges . ” In central for his help , Council allegedly received payment in Bitcoin .
The SEC’s X account was hacked on 5 January 2025 in order to post a fake message that spiked the price of Bitcoin.© Chesnot/Getty Images
The 25 - yr - former ’s so-called action mechanism in the days after the attack suggest he was not on the button a criminal mastermind . The U.S. Attorney ’s Office said Council conducted a serial publication of suspicious internet search , for phrases like “ SECGOV taxi , ” “ wire swap , ” “ how can I know for sure if I am being inquire by the FBI , ” and “ What are the planetary house you are under investigation by law enforcement or the FBI even if you have not been touch by them . ”
The January 9 hack lace the value of Bitcoin for a short metre before SEC Chairman Gary Gensler posted from his own account that the data was simulated , after which the price of Bitcoin set down by $ 2,000 .
The very next twenty-four hours , the SEC officially approve 11 Bitcoin ETFs butbungled the announcementby post and then deleting a document about the favourable reception from its internet site , lead to questions about whether it was more bastard news .
Council has been institutionalise with conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft and access equipment pretender and was schedule to be arraigned Thursday in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama .
“ These SIM swapping dodge , where fraudsters play a trick on divine service provider into giving them ascendancy of unsuspecting victims ’ telephone set , can leave in lay waste to financial losings to victim and leaks of sensitive personal and individual information , ” U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves said in a statement . “ Here , the coconspirator allegedly used their illegal access to a phone to control financial markets . Through indictments like this , we will hold accountable those who practice these serious offence . ”
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