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- The FBI has arrested the person they imagine hacked the SEC’s X story, posting false Bitcoin ETF news
- The post ended in a transient spike in Bitcoin’s mark, causing market volatility sooner than the SEC confirmed it was as soon as a hoax
- Council allegedly accomplished a SIM swap assault to raise regulate of the SEC’s story, facing quite lots of costs
The Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) has arrested the person they imagine hacked the Securities and Exchange Fee’s (SEC) X story and posted fraudulent news of a Bitcoin ETF in January. Eric Council Jr. was as soon as arrested for orchestrating the hack which precipitated Bitcoin’s mark to hasty flee by $1,000, handiest to plummet by $2,000 as soon because it was as soon as revealed to be a hoax. Per the indictment, Council frail a SIM swap assault to develop fetch admission to to the SEC’s social media story and wreak havoc.
SIM Swap Attack
Per the FBO, Council and his accomplices employed a fancy SIM swap plan, where Council tricked mobile provider companies into giving him regulate of a sufferer’s phone quantity. This fashion gave Council fetch admission to to the SEC’s X story, enabling him to post the false news.
Council bought inside of most figuring out data and an identification card template containing a sufferer’s title and photo from co-conspirators, which he frail in combination with an identification card printer to make a fraudulent ID. Council proceeded to procedure a SIM card linked to the sufferer’s phone line by presenting the fraudulent ID at a cell phone provider retailer in Huntsville, Alabama, utilizing a newly sold phone to procedure fetch admission to codes to the @SECGov X story. Hsi co-conspirators then accessed the story SEC’s story and made the post.
Council is declared to maintain got bitcoins in charge for performing the winning SIM swap, after which he drove to Birmingham, Alabama to return the iPhone frail in the SIM swap for money.
Market Manipulation Ways
In asserting Council’s arrest, U.S. Licensed reliable Matthew Graves famed, “This case highlights the vulnerabilities in each and every the financial and social media methods when criminals develop unauthorized fetch admission to.” SIM swaps maintain been frail quite lots of times in say to allow hackers to center of attention on excessive-rep-rate folks in the crypto assign aside, with phone corporations usually blamed.
Council is now facing quite lots of severe costs, including aggravated identity theft and wire fraud. If convicted, he could face large detention center time. Council’s court date is but to be confirmed, but authorities are continuing to compare the plump scope of the hack.
