WASHINGTON — An Athens man is in federal custody, accused of hacking into a Securities and Exchange Commission's social media account and impersonating the commission's chairman.
The FBI arrested Eric Council Jr., 25, in Athens Thursday morning.
Council is suspected of orchestrating the January hack of the SEC account on "X," formerly known as Twitter.
The person who accessed that account prematurely announced the approval of bitcoin Exchange Traded Funds. Immediately following the false announcement, the price of bitcoin increased by more than $1,000 per bitcoin.
Officials with the agency regained control a short time later and announced that the post was unauthorized and the result of a security breach. That correction sent the value of BTC plummeting by more than $2,000 per bitcoin.
Investigators believe others were involved in the hacking incident, but Council is the first to be charged and arrested.
“The indictment alleges that Eric Council Jr. unlawfully accessed the SEC’s account on X by using the stolen identity of a person who had access to the account to take over their cellphone number,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Council’s co-conspirators then allegedly used this unauthorized access to the X account to falsely announce that the SEC had approved listing bitcoin ETFs, which caused the price of bitcoin to rise by $1,000 and then fall by $2,000.
"Council’s indictment underscores the Criminal Division’s commitment to countering cybercrime, especially when it threatens the integrity of financial markets.”
The FBI's Washington Office and SEC's Office of Inspector General have led the investigation, which is ongoing.
“This criminal indictment demonstrates our commitment to holding bad actors accountable for undermining the integrity of the financial markets,” said SEC Inspector General Deborah Jeffrey.
The process allegedly used by Council is known as "SIM swapping." Additional information on that technique is available here.
