Summary: Eric Council, 25, from Athens, Alabama, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft by hacking into the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) X account to publish fraudulent messages. He was part of a conspiracy that executed SIM swap attacks to gain unauthorized access to sensitive information, resulting in false announcements that affected Bitcoin’s market price. Council faces up to five years in prison and a 0,000 fine, with sentencing set for May 2025.
Affected: U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Keypoints :
- Eric Council conspired to perform SIM swap attacks to gain access to the SEC’s social media account.
- A fraudulent post falsely claimed SEC approval of Bitcoin ETFs, causing significant fluctuations in Bitcoin’s value.
- The scheme included creating fake identification to impersonate victims and successfully retrieving security codes from the hacked accounts.