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The FBI arrested the man it believes hacked and posted from the Securities and Trade Fee’s X (META+0.04%) (previously Twitter) account in January and sent the price of Bitcoin soaring.
Eric Council Jr., a 25-year-old Alabama resident, was arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit aggravated identification theft and entry machine fraud, the FBI said Thursday.
On Jan. 9, Council and others conspired to hack into the @SECGov X account and made a submit posing as SEC Chair Gary Gensler. It learn: “At present the SEC grants approval for #Bitcoin ETFs for itemizing on all registered nationwide securities exchanges.”
The price of Bitcoin spiked greater than $1,000 apiece following the submit, in keeping with the indictment. After the SEC regained management of its account and issued a press release clarifying that the submit was a results of a breach, the price of Bitcoin plummeted by greater than $2,000.
On the time, cryptocurrency traders had been intently awaiting the regulator’s approval of Bitcoin ETFs, which might enable Bitcoin-related property to be traded as exchange-traded funds. The SEC issued its official approval of the Bitcoin merchandise the next day.
In line with the costs, the SEC and X confirmed that the hack was carried out utilizing a technique referred to as “SIM swapping.” That’s when a fraudster impersonates another person to a mobile provider and obtains their SIM particulars, together with their telephone quantity.
Council acquired different private figuring out data to make a pretend ID, which he used to acquire a SIM card linked to the sufferer’s telephone line, the indictment alleges. He then purchased a brand new iPhone with money and obtained entry codes to the @SECGov X account, which he allegedly shared with co-conspirators to achieve entry to the account.
After issuing the pretend submit, Council allegedly acquired fee in Bitcoin earlier than returning the iPhone. He later performed web searches for “SECGOV hack,” “telegram sim swap,” “how can I do know for certain if I’m being investigated by the FBI,” and “What are the indicators that you’re underneath investigation by regulation enforcement or the FBI even in case you have not been contacted by them,” the company mentioned.
“These SIM swapping schemes, the place fraudsters trick service suppliers into giving them management of unsuspecting victims’ telephones, may end up in devastating monetary losses to victims and leaks of delicate private and non-public data,” mentioned U.S. Lawyer Matthew Graves. “Right here, the conspirators allegedly used their unlawful entry to a telephone to control monetary markets.”
Council will make his first court docket look on Thursday within the Northern District of Alabama.