Hacker arrested for the fake SEC tweet that caused a Bitcoin price spike

A cartoon illustration shows a shadowy figure carrying off a red directory folder, which has a surprised-looking face on its side.
Illustration: Beatrice Sala

The FBI has arrested an Alabama man who is accused of hacking the Securities and Exchange Commission’s X account in January. The indictment (PDF) alleges that 25-year-old Eric Council Jr. worked with co-conspirators to take control of the account and post a fake message from SEC Chair Gary Gensler about Bitcoin ETFs that caused the price of Bitcoin to jump by more than $1,000 momentarily.

To carry out this scheme, Council is accused of creating a fake ID using the information belonging to the person in control of the SEC’s X account. He then allegedly tricked AT&T into providing a SIM card with the victim’s phone number and install it into a new iPhone he purchased. Finally, Council was able to gain control of the SEC’s account using...

Continue reading…



source https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/17/24272739/sec-fake-bitcoin-etf-tweet-fbi-arrest-eric-council

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

GE made a 27-inch smart display for above your stove that streams Netflix and Spotify

Mophie’s battery pack case for the new iPhones lets you use wired headphones

Vizio returns to CES with its most advanced 4K TV ever and support for Apple’s AirPlay 2