The attack briefly sent Bitcoin (BTC) prices soaring after a fraudulent post falsely claimed the regulator had cleared the way for a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).
The FBI announced the arrest of Eric Council Jr., a 25-year-old resident of Athens, Alabama, on Thursday, Oct. 17.
According to an FBI press release, Council Jr. is facing charges of conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft and access device fraud in connection with the breach.
The indictment alleges that Council Jr. accessed the SEC’s X account by using the stolen identity of a person who had access to the account to take over their cellphone number.
This was done as part of a “SIM swap” scheme, where bad actors trick service providers into giving them control of unsuspecting victims’ phones.
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