- Eric Council Jr. was charged with conspiracy to commit id theft and entry gadget fraud
- In January, X's SEC account was hacked with a put up claiming the company had accepted the primary Bitcoin ETF
- A day later, the SEC accepted the primary Bitcoin ETF
A 25-year-old man from Athens, Alabama has been arrested by the FBI for allegedly hacking the US Securities and Trade Fee (SEC) X account.
In keeping with an announcement by the U.S. Legal professional's Workplace, District of Columbia, Eric Council Jr. accused of being a part of a bunch that falsely printed a report on X's SEC account claiming to have accepted the primary Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). .
The council was charged with conspiracy to commit id theft and entry gadget fraud.
On behalf of SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, the group launched a report on Jan. 9 that mentioned:
“SEC at the moment grants approval for #Bitcoin ETF to record on all registered nationwide inventory exchanges.”
Shortly after the tweet was posted, the value of Bitcoin rose by $1,000.
Realizing that the SEC account had been compromised, Gensler shortly dismissed the experiences, saying the company “didn’t approve the write-up.” The value of Bitcoin dropped by $2,000 after this information.
The @SECGov the twitter account was compromised and an unauthorized tweet was posted. The SEC has not accepted the itemizing and buying and selling of exchange-traded spot bitcoin merchandise.
— Gary Gensler (@GaryGensler) January 9, 2024
Notably, a day later the SEC accepted the primary Bitcoin ETF.
SIM alternative
Authorities say the Board used a “SIM swapping” approach to realize management of the SEC account.
Nicole Argentieri, principal deputy assistant legal professional normal for the Justice Division's legal division, mentioned the Council allegedly “accessed the SEC account at X utilizing the stolen id of an individual who had entry to the account to take over their cellular phone quantity.”
“These SIM swapping schemes, the place fraudsters trick service suppliers into giving them management of unsuspecting victims' telephones, can lead to devastating monetary losses for victims and the leakage of delicate private and personal data,” mentioned US Legal professional Matthew Graves.
In keeping with the assertion, Rada, who additionally glided by the names “Ronin”, “Easymunny” and “AGiantSchnauzer”, allegedly acquired the sufferer's title and {photograph} and a template containing the sufferer's particulars from the co-conspirators. He then used this data to create a pretend ID.
The council then traveled to Huntsville, Alabama to acquire a brand new SIM card related to the sufferer's telephone and buy a brand new iPhone in money. With these two, he obtained the entry codes to X's SEC account. These codes have been shared with the co-conspirators who issued the pretend tweet.
The council reportedly acquired fee in bitcoins for finishing the SIM alternative. He then drove to Birmingham, Alabama to return the iPhone for money. Conscious of their actions, the FBI mentioned the Council carried out an Web search, together with “what are the indicators that you’re being investigated by legislation enforcement?”
