Alabama Man Sentenced to 14 Months, Ordered to Forfeit $50,000 for SEC Account Hack Using SIM Swap to Post Fake Bitcoin ETF Approval

Eric Council Jr., an Alabama resident, was sentenced to 14 months in prison and ordered to forfeit $50,000 for hacking the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) X social media account. On January 9, 2024, Council used a SIM swap scheme to gain unauthorized access to the SEC’s account and posted a fraudulent message falsely claiming approval of a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). This fake announcement briefly caused a spike in Bitcoin's price. The incident was part of a conspiracy to manipulate the value of Bitcoin through deceptive social media activity.

This is an AI-generated article powered by DeepNewz, curated by The Defiant. For more information, including article sources, visit DeepNewz.