FBI Arrests Man Who Searched ‘How Can I Know for Sure If I Am Being Investigated by the FBI’

The FBI has arrested an Alabama antheral who allegedly hacked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s X (formerly Twitter) relationship successful bid to station erroneous accusation astir Bitcoin that concisely drove the terms of the cryptocurrency up by $1,000.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia says Eric Council Jr. received personally identifying accusation and an ID template from co-conspirators that allowed him to marque a fake ID paper for idiosyncratic with entree to the SEC’s X account. He allegedly past utilized that ID paper astatine a compartment telephone store successful Huntsville, Alabama to get an iPhone with a SIM paper linked to the victim’s telephone number.

Using the spoofed phone, Council allegedly helped co-conspirators log successful to the SEC’s X account, from which they posted a tweet falsely claiming that “Today the SEC grants support for #Bitcoin ETFs for listing connected each registered nationalist securities exchanges.” In speech for his help, Council allegedly received outgo successful Bitcoin.

The 25-year-old’s alleged actions successful the days aft the onslaught suggest helium was not precisely a transgression mastermind. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Council conducted a bid of suspicious net searches, for phrases similar “SECGOV hack,” “telegram swap,” “how tin I cognize for definite if I americium being investigated by the FBI,” and “What are the signs you are nether probe by instrumentality enforcement oregon the FBI adjacent if you person not been contacted by them.”

The January 9 hack spiked the worth of Bitcoin for a abbreviated clip earlier SEC Chairman Gary Gensler posted from his ain relationship that the accusation was false, aft which the terms of Bitcoin dropped by $2,000.

The precise adjacent day, the SEC officially approved 11 Bitcoin ETFs but bungled the announcement by posting and past deleting a papers astir the support from its website, starring to questions astir whether it was much fake news.

Council has been charged with conspiracy to perpetrate aggravated individuality theft and entree instrumentality fraud and was scheduled to beryllium arraigned Thursday successful U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.

“These SIM swapping schemes, wherever fraudsters instrumentality work providers into giving them power of unsuspecting victims’ phones, tin effect successful devastating fiscal losses to victims and leaks of delicate idiosyncratic and backstage information,” U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves said successful a statement. “Here, the conspirators allegedly utilized their amerciable entree to a telephone to manipulate fiscal markets. Through indictments similar this, we volition clasp accountable those who perpetrate these superior crimes.”