The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested a man from Alabama who is alleged to have hacked the Twitter account of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to spread false information about Bitcoin, leading to a brief spike in the cryptocurrency’s price by $1000.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia says Eric Counts Jr. received personal identification and identification model from co-conspirators which allowed him to create a fake ID for a person with access to the SEC’s account. He is alleged to have then used that ID at a mobile phone store in Huntsville, Alabama to obtain an iPhone with a SIM card linked to the victim’s phone number.
Using the fraudulent phone, it is alleged that Counts assisted the co-conspirators in logging into the SEC’s account, from which they tweeted falsely that “Today the Securities and Exchange Commission approves #Bitcoin ETFs for listing on all registered national securities exchanges.” In exchange for his help, Counts is alleged to have received payments in Bitcoin.
The alleged actions taken by the 25-year-old in the days following the hack suggest he was not the mastermind behind the criminal operation entirely. The U.S. Attorney’s Office says Counts conducted a series of suspicious internet searches, looking for phrases like “SECGOV hack”, “telegraph exchanges”, “how do I know for sure if the FBI is investigating me,” and “what are the signs?”. You are investigating by law enforcement agencies or the FBI even if they have not contacted you.
The January 9 hack led to a brief increase in the value of Bitcoin before SEC Chairman Gary Gensler tweeted from his personal account that the information was false, causing the price of Bitcoin to drop by $2000.
The next day, the SEC officially approved 11 Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, but mistakenly announced it by publishing and then deleting a document about the approval on its website, raising questions about whether this was more fake news.
Counts was charged with conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft and access device fraud, and was scheduled to appear in court on Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.
U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves said in a statement: “These SIM swapping schemes, where fraudsters deceive service providers to give them control of unsuspecting victims’ phones, can lead to devastating financial losses for victims and the leaking of sensitive personal information. Here, the conspirators are alleged to have used their illegal access to the phone to manipulate financial markets. With indictments like these, we will hold those who commit these serious crimes accountable.”
