Alabama man arrested by FBI for alleged SEC hack and bitcoin manipulation
Eric Council Jr.,25, is being charged with conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft and access device fraud
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A 25-year-old Alabama man was arrested by the FBI for his alleged connection with the January unauthorized takeover of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) X account.
Eric Council Jr. has been accused of posting a fake tweet pretending to be the SEC Chair, causing the value of bitcoin (BTC) to skyrocket by $1,000.
According to the indictment, Council conspired with others in order to carry out a fraudulent SIM Swap attack.
"As part of this scheme, the co-conspirators shared with COUNCIL the personal identifying information ("Pll") of the intended victim; created a fraudulent identification document in the victim's name; used the fraudulent identification document to impersonate the victim; took over the victim's cellular telephone account; and accessed the online social media accounts linked to the victim's phone line for the purpose of generating fraudulent posts in the name of the SEC Chairman," the indictment stated.
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The indictment goes on to describe in detail the actions of Council and his co-conspirators on the date in question, saying that "on or about January 9, 2024, COUNCIL traveled to an AT&T store in Huntsville, Alabama and presented an identification card in C.L.'s name. COUNCIL claimed to be an FBI employee who broke his phone and needed a new SIM card, and thereby obtained a new SIM card tied to C.L.'s account (the 'C.L. SIM card')."
After obtaining the SIM card, Council allegedly then went to an Apple Store to purchase an iPhone where he utilized the SIM card in order to receive the two-factor security reset code associated with the X account.
Since the hack occurred, Council has allegedly searched for "what are some signs that the FBI is after you" and how to delete accounts on the app Telegram, prosecutors allege.
Representations of Bitcoin are seen with binary code displayed on a laptop screen. (Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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He is being charged with conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft and access device fraud, according to the indictment.
The arrest and the indictment were announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge David Geist of the Washington Field Office’s Criminal and Cyber Division and SEC Inspector General Deborah Jeffrey.