Alabama man Eric Council Jr., has been apprehended and charged by U.S. authorities following his involvement in the compromise of the Securities and Exchange Council's official account on X, formerly Twitter, that resulted in a Bitcoin price spike earlier this year, reports CyberScoop.
The breach was conducted through SIM swapping, with Council, also known as Easymunny, Ronin, and AGiantSchnauzer, and his co-conspirators crafting a false identity using information from a third party with access to SEC's X account, the indictment showed.
After obtaining a replacement SIM under the guise of an FBI agent, Council was able to take over the third party's number and access codes for the SEC's X account, which were later given to co-conspirators who posted a fake tweet that temporarily inflated Bitcoin prices.
"These SIM swapping schemes, where fraudsters trick service providers into giving them control of unsuspecting victims' phones, can result in devastating financial losses to victims and leaks of sensitive personal and private information. Here, the conspirators allegedly used their illegal access to a phone to manipulate financial markets. Through indictments like this, we will hold accountable those who commit these serious crimes," noted U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves.
