Hacker Responsible for SEC SIM Swap Arrested

A man from Alabama was arrested by the FBI in Athens, Alabama, in connection with the January 2024 SIM swap hack of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) social media account on X, previously known as Twitter.

Court documents state that around January 9, Eric Council Jr., 25, from Athens, is accused of working with others to illegally take control of the SEC’s X account. Posing as SEC Chair Gary Gensler, they falsely announced the approval of bitcoin Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). This fake announcement caused bitcoin’s price to surge by more than $1,000 per bitcoin. Shortly after, the SEC regained access to its account and confirmed the post was unauthorized, stemming from a security breach. Following this clarification, the price of bitcoin dropped by over $2,000 per bitcoin.

The hacking group allegedly took control of the SEC’s X account through a SIM swap carried out by Council. A SIM swap involves tricking a cell phone carrier into reassigning a phone number from the legitimate user’s SIM card to one controlled by a criminal. As part of the scheme, Council and his co-conspirators reportedly created a fake identification in the victim’s name, used it to impersonate the victim, took control of the victim’s phone account, and accessed the linked social media account to hack into the SEC’s X account and post the fraudulent statement in the name of SEC Chair Gensler.