{"id":813287,"date":"2024-12-19T23:22:49","date_gmt":"2024-12-20T05:22:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2024\/12\/19\/fbi-arrests-man-over-sec-hack-alleging-bitcoin-manipulation\/"},"modified":"2024-12-19T23:22:49","modified_gmt":"2024-12-20T05:22:49","slug":"fbi-arrests-man-over-sec-hack-alleging-bitcoin-manipulation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2024\/12\/19\/fbi-arrests-man-over-sec-hack-alleging-bitcoin-manipulation\/","title":{"rendered":"FBI arrests man over SEC hack, alleging bitcoin manipulation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Bitcoins <\/p>\n<div id=\"primary\">\n<article id=\"post-2811566\">\n<p><template id=\"tmpl-rappler-speechify-button-play\"><br \/>\n\t<\/template><\/p>\n<p><template id=\"tmpl-rappler-speechify-button-upgrade\"><\/p>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<p><template id=\"tmpl-rappler-speechify-cta\"><\/p>\n<p>Already have Rappler+? <br \/> to listen to groundbreaking journalism.<\/p>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<div>\n<div id=\"ai-summary-section-container\">\n<p id=\"ai-summary-warning-label\">This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p><img width=\"1100\" height=\"700\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rappler.com\/tachyon\/2024\/10\/sec-bitcoin-june-6-2023-reuters.jpg\" alt=\"bitcoins FBI arrests man over SEC hack, alleging bitcoin manipulation\" fetchpriority=\"high\" loading=\"eager\" decoding=\"async\"  ><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\tSEC AND BITCOIN. US Securities and Exchange Commission logo and representations of cryptocurrency are seen in this illustration taken June 6, 2023. \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\tDado Ruvic\/Reuters\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p><em>Eric Council Jr. of Athens, Alabama, is arrested in connection with the SIM-swapping hack, the US Attorney&#8217;s office for the District of Columbia says <\/em>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>WASHINGTON, USA \u2013 A 25-year-old Alabama man was arrested on Thursday, October 17, for hacking the US Securities and Exchange Commission\u2019s X account this year as part of an alleged conspiracy to manipulate bitcoin prices, US prosecutors said.<\/p>\n<p>In January, a hacker posted false news on the SEC\u2019s @SECGov X social media account announcing the agency had approved bitcoin exchange-traded funds, causing the price of the cryptocurrency to spike. The agency quickly disavowed and deleted the post.<\/p>\n<p>The incident sparked criticism of the SEC, the top US markets regulator, and renewed concerns over security on X since it was acquired by billionaire Elon Musk in October 2022.<\/p>\n<p>Eric Council Jr. of Athens, Alabama, was arrested in connection with the \u201cSIM-swapping\u201d hack, the US Attorney\u2019s office for the District of Columbia said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>A lawyer for Council did not immediately respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n<p>The SEC said it appreciated the FBI\u2019s work.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe SEC thanks law enforcement for their vigilance in seeking accountability for the breach of the SEC\u2019s X account,\u201d said a spokesperson.<\/p>\n<p>Federal prosecutors allege that Council assisted unnamed co-conspirators who had identified a victim with access to the SEC\u2019s X account \u2013 dubbed \u201cC.L.\u201d They instructed Council on how to switch the victim\u2019s phone to a new device and then used the access to post the bogus message on the SEC\u2019s account.<\/p>\n<p>The post on X caused bitcoin prices to spike by $1,000. Council later received bitcoin payment for the SIM swap and shortly after he drove to Birmingham, Alabama, to return the iPhone, according to the Justice Department.<\/p>\n<p>Council subsequently performed internet searches for phrases such as \u201cwhat are some signs that the FBI is after you\u201d and looked for information about deleting accounts maintained on the encrypted messaging app Telegram, prosecutors allege.<\/p>\n<p>Council has been charged with conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft and access device fraud, according to the indictment.<\/p>\n<p>The day after the hack, the SEC formally approved the bitcoin ETFs, which have brought the cryptocurrency further into the mainstream. <strong>\u2013 Rappler.com<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"moodmeter\">\n<div>\n<p>How does this make you feel?<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span>Loading<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>\t<template id=\"cx_after-article-template\"><\/p>\n<article data-is-main-site=\"{{item.mainsite}}\">\n<p><h3>{{ item.sitename }}<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<p>\t<\/template>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> Reuters <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rappler.com\/world\/us-canada\/fbi-arrests-man-sec-hack-alleging-bitcoin-manipulation\/\" class=\"button purchase\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Already have Rappler+? to listen to groundbreaking journalism. This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article. SEC AND BITCOIN. US Securities and Exchange Commission logo and representations of cryptocurrency are seen in this illustration taken June 6, 2023. Dado Ruvic\/Reuters Eric Council Jr. of Athens, Alabama<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":813288,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[102576,26031],"tags":[11476],"class_list":{"0":"post-813287","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-alleging","8":"category-arrests","9":"tag-bitcoins"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/813287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=813287"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/813287\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/813288"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=813287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=813287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=813287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}