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Eric Council Jr., a 25-year-old Alabama resident, pleaded guilty to hacking into the SEC's X social media account in January 2024. Recall that this attack affected the price of Bitcoin.
During last year's incident, the SEC's Twitter account was hacked. Then, the hacker who seized control of the account reported on behalf of the SEC that the US authorities had decided to allow the launch of a Bitcoin ETF "on all registered national securities exchanges." The publication included a photo of Gary Gensler, who at that time headed the SEC, with a fake quote in which he allegedly confirmed the approval of the ETF.
The fake news quickly spread on social networks and in the media, after which Bitcoin responded to the fake with a rapid price increase, almost reaching $ 48,000 per BTC.
But the rally was followed by an equally sharp crash to $45,000 as the post was deleted and the real Gary Gensler reported that the SEC account had been compromised, the ETF had not been approved by the agency, and the “unauthorized tweet” was the work of bad actors.
Shortly thereafter, the SEC explained that the account had been hacked using a SIM swap, which allowed the defendant to gain control of the phone number of the person in charge of the agency’s X account, reset the password for the account, and give other participants in the scheme (who each paid Council $50,000 in bitcoin) access to the hacked account to post the fake news.
[td]“As part of the scheme, Council used an ID printer to create a counterfeit document containing the victim’s personal information that he obtained from his co-conspirators,” the Justice Department said . “He then used the counterfeit ID to impersonate the victim and gain access to the victim’s phone number to access the SEC account.”[/td]The defendant reportedly visited an AT&T store, posed as an FBI agent, and convinced staff that he had broken his phone and needed a new SIM card with the number urgently.
According to court documents , Council later searched online for information related to the attack and feared that the FBI was investigating him. Investigators found that the defendant had searched online for information on “signs that you are under investigation by law enforcement and the FBI even if they have not contacted you” and “how to tell for sure if the FBI is investigating me.”
Eric Council is scheduled to be sentenced on May 16, 2025. He faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison after pleading guilty this week to conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft and access device fraud.
During last year's incident, the SEC's Twitter account was hacked. Then, the hacker who seized control of the account reported on behalf of the SEC that the US authorities had decided to allow the launch of a Bitcoin ETF "on all registered national securities exchanges." The publication included a photo of Gary Gensler, who at that time headed the SEC, with a fake quote in which he allegedly confirmed the approval of the ETF.
The fake news quickly spread on social networks and in the media, after which Bitcoin responded to the fake with a rapid price increase, almost reaching $ 48,000 per BTC.
But the rally was followed by an equally sharp crash to $45,000 as the post was deleted and the real Gary Gensler reported that the SEC account had been compromised, the ETF had not been approved by the agency, and the “unauthorized tweet” was the work of bad actors.
Shortly thereafter, the SEC explained that the account had been hacked using a SIM swap, which allowed the defendant to gain control of the phone number of the person in charge of the agency’s X account, reset the password for the account, and give other participants in the scheme (who each paid Council $50,000 in bitcoin) access to the hacked account to post the fake news.
According to court documents , Council later searched online for information related to the attack and feared that the FBI was investigating him. Investigators found that the defendant had searched online for information on “signs that you are under investigation by law enforcement and the FBI even if they have not contacted you” and “how to tell for sure if the FBI is investigating me.”
Eric Council is scheduled to be sentenced on May 16, 2025. He faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison after pleading guilty this week to conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft and access device fraud.