A 25-year-old Alabama man has been arrested by the FBI for his alleged role in the takeover of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s X account earlier this year. The hack resulted in a rogue tweet falsely claiming a Bitcoin ETF had been approved by the regulator, causing Bitcoin prices to temporarily surge. Now, the FBI has identified Eric Council Jr. as one of the people allegedly behind the exploit.
According to the Justice Department, Council was charged with conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft and access device fraud. While the SEC previously confirmed that his X account was compromised via a SIM swap attack, the indictment provides new details about how it was allegedly carried out. According to the indictment, Council worked with co-conspirators with whom he coordinated over SMS and encrypted messaging apps.
These unnamed individuals allegedly sent him personal information of someone, identified only as “C.L.”, who had access to the SEC X account. According to the DoJ, Counsell then printed a fake ID using the information and used it to purchase a new SIM in his name, as well as a new iPhone. The indictment states that he then coordinated with other individuals so that they could access SEC’s X account, change its settings, and send rogue tweets.
The @SECGov tweet, which came a day before the SEC granted actual approval to the 11 Spot Bitcoin ETFS, caused Bitcoin prices to temporarily rise by more than $1,000. It also raised questions about why the high profile account was not secured with multi-factor authentication at the time of the attack. SEC Inspector General Jeffrey said in a statement, “Today’s arrest reflects our commitment to holding bad actors accountable for undermining the integrity of the financial markets.”
The indictment further states that Counsell allegedly discovered some incriminating material on his personal computer. The indictment states that their searches included: “SECGOV hack,” “Telegram SIM swap,” “How can I know for sure if I’m being investigated by the FBI,” “What are some signs that you are under investigation by law enforcement or the FBI, even if they haven’t contacted you,” “What are some signs that the FBI is after you,” “Verizon store list,” “federal identity theft statutes,” and “How long does it take to delete a Telegram account.”