Eric Council Jr. of Athens, Alabama, was arrested in connection with the unauthorized takeover of the SEC's X (formerly Twitter) account in January 2024. The hacker posted a fake message impersonating the SEC chairman, causing the price of Bitcoin to rise by $1,000.
Council is charged with conspiracy to commit identity theft and access device fraud. The hacker gained control of the SEC account through a "SIM swap" - an attack in which fraudsters trick the provider into handing over control of the victim's phone.
After a fake tweet about Bitcoin ETF approval was posted, the price of BTC rose by over $1,000, then fell by $2,000 after the SEC denied it.
Council, who used the online aliases "Ronin," "Easymunny," and "AGiantSchnauzer," created a fake ID, obtained the victim's SIM card, and a new iPhone to obtain the SEC account access codes. He shared the codes with co-conspirators, who posted the fake tweet.
The investigation is being conducted by the FBI, the SEC's Office of Inspector General and the U.S. Department of Justice.
