An Alabama man was arrested on Thursday morning after prosecutors claimed he hacked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s social media account, which posted a false announcement about the approval of spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds. Eric Council Jr. is accused of taking over the SEC’s X account in January and then transferring control to unnamed co-conspirators, whose fake post caused a spike in bitcoin’s price.
SEC’s Twitter Account was Hacked via SIM Swapping
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced on Thursday that a man has been arrested and charged with hijacking the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)’s Twitter (X) account. In January, he used the account to falsely claim that the agency had approved Bitcoin ETFs, which caused a sudden spike in Bitcoin’s price.
Eric Council Jr., a 25-year-old from Athens, Alabama, was arrested on Thursday. Authorities allege that he used a “SIM swapping” technique to take over a phone number, allowing him to gain unauthorized access to the SEC’s Twitter account. Following the false announcement, Bitcoin’s price surged by over $1,000, but quickly fell by $2,000 once the claim was disproven.
U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves said, “These SIM swapping schemes, where fraudsters trick service providers into giving them control of unsuspecting victims’ phones, can result in devastating financial losses to victims and leaks of sensitive personal and private information. Here, the conspirators allegedly used their illegal access to a phone to manipulate financial markets. Through indictments like this, we will hold accountable those who commit these serious crimes”
Here’s How the Plan was Executed
The indictment reveals that Eric Council, known online by aliases such as “Ronin,” “Easymunny,” and “AGiantSchnauzer,” conspired with others to obtain personal identifying information (PII) from a victim, including an identification card template featuring the victim’s name and photo. Using this information, Council created a fake ID with his identification card printer.
Afterward, he visited a cell phone provider store in Huntsville, Alabama, where he presented the fake ID to obtain a SIM card linked to the victim’s phone line. With this SIM card, Council purchased a new iPhone in cash and acquired access codes for the @SECGov X account.
These codes were then shared with his co-conspirators, who accessed the account and issued a fraudulent tweet in the name of the SEC Chairman, falsely announcing the approval of Bitcoin ETFs.
For facilitating the SIM swap, Eric received payment in Bitcoin. Following the incident, he traveled to Birmingham, Alabama, to return the iPhone used in the scheme for cash. Investigators later found that he conducted internet searches related to the hack, including queries about being investigated by the FBI and the signs of such an investigation.
