A U.S. federal
judge sentenced the resident of Alabama to 14 months in prison for his
involvement in compromising the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) social
media account on X, formerly Twitter. The hack led to a false announcement
about Bitcoin (BTC) ETF approvals that temporarily moved cryptocurrency
markets.
Alabama Man Gets 14-Month
Sentence for SEC X Account Hack
Eric
Council Jr., 26, of Huntsville, Alabama, who pleaded guilty in February to
conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft and access device fraud, will
also serve three years of supervised release following his prison term.
According
to court documents, Council executed an unauthorized SIM swap to gain control
of the SEC’s X account. The operation allowed his co-conspirators to post a
fabricated announcement in January claiming the
SEC had approved Bitcoin ETFs, a decision that market participants had been
eagerly anticipating.
“Council
and his co-conspirators used sophisticated cyber means to compromise the SEC’s
X account and posted a false announcement that distorted important financial
markets,” said Matthew R. Galeotti, Head of the Justice Department’s
Criminal Division.
BTC Market Volatility
The
false announcement triggered immediate market volatility, with Bitcoin
prices initially jumping more than $1,000 before dropping more than $2,000
after the SEC issued a correction. Court records indicate Council received
Bitcoin payments for his role in the scheme.
Investigators
revealed that Council created a fraudulent identification card using personally
identifiable information obtained from co-conspirators. He used this fake ID to
impersonate a victim and gain control of their phone number, which provided
access to the SEC’s social media account.
“The
deliberate takeover of a federal agency’s official communications platform was
a calculated criminal act meant to deceive the public and manipulate financial
markets,” said FBI Criminal Investigative Division Acting Assistant
Director Darren Cox.
U.S.
Attorney Jeanine Pirro for the District of Columbia emphasized the broader
implications of such schemes, stating they “threaten the health and
integrity of our market system” and warned potential perpetrators:
“Don’t fool yourself into thinking you can’t be caught.”
A U.S. federal
judge sentenced the resident of Alabama to 14 months in prison for his
involvement in compromising the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) social
media account on X, formerly Twitter. The hack led to a false announcement
about Bitcoin (BTC) ETF approvals that temporarily moved cryptocurrency
markets.
Alabama Man Gets 14-Month
Sentence for SEC X Account Hack
Eric
Council Jr., 26, of Huntsville, Alabama, who pleaded guilty in February to
conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft and access device fraud, will
also serve three years of supervised release following his prison term.
According
to court documents, Council executed an unauthorized SIM swap to gain control
of the SEC’s X account. The operation allowed his co-conspirators to post a
fabricated announcement in January claiming the
SEC had approved Bitcoin ETFs, a decision that market participants had been
eagerly anticipating.
“Council
and his co-conspirators used sophisticated cyber means to compromise the SEC’s
X account and posted a false announcement that distorted important financial
markets,” said Matthew R. Galeotti, Head of the Justice Department’s
Criminal Division.
BTC Market Volatility
The
false announcement triggered immediate market volatility, with Bitcoin
prices initially jumping more than $1,000 before dropping more than $2,000
after the SEC issued a correction. Court records indicate Council received
Bitcoin payments for his role in the scheme.
Investigators
revealed that Council created a fraudulent identification card using personally
identifiable information obtained from co-conspirators. He used this fake ID to
impersonate a victim and gain control of their phone number, which provided
access to the SEC’s social media account.
“The
deliberate takeover of a federal agency’s official communications platform was
a calculated criminal act meant to deceive the public and manipulate financial
markets,” said FBI Criminal Investigative Division Acting Assistant
Director Darren Cox.
U.S.
Attorney Jeanine Pirro for the District of Columbia emphasized the broader
implications of such schemes, stating they “threaten the health and
integrity of our market system” and warned potential perpetrators:
“Don’t fool yourself into thinking you can’t be caught.”
This post is originally published on FINANCEMAGNATES.
