On May 16, 2025 (local time), a US Washington D.C. federal court sentenced Eric Council Jr. (26, from Huntsville, Alabama) to 14 months imprisonment and 3 years probation for unauthorized hacking of the SEC's official social media account (X, formerly Twitter) and manipulating the Bitcoin market through false information.
Council pleaded guilty in February 2025 to charges of identity theft and access device fraud conspiracy. He and accomplices seized the SEC's official X account, then posted false information mimicking a Bitcoin ETF approval announcement — Bitcoin price surged more than $1,000 immediately, then crashed more than $2,000 after the fabrication was revealed, causing serious market chaos and losses.
The core technique: SIM Swapping — tricking telecom customer service to transfer a victim's phone number to a criminal's SIM card. Council obtained victim personal identification information from accomplices, created forged ID using an ID card printer, used it to impersonate the victim and seize the phone number, then accessed the SEC's official X account. Accomplices posted false ETF approval under the SEC Chairman's name. Council received Bitcoin as payment. The triple threat: technological (SIM swapping more sophisticated than traditional hacking, even public agencies can be victims); economic (Bitcoin price volatility caused millions in losses); social trust collapse (most trusted agency's official announcement channel became a manipulation vehicle).
Social engineering protection: FBI warns of combined techniques — Pretexting (impersonating employees), SIM Swapping, Call Forwarding, Phishing. Individual countermeasures: never respond to requests for OTPs via phone/email/text; ask telecom to block SIM changes and call forwarding; use hardware-based MFA; check account activity regularly; use passwords of 16+ characters. Corporate measures: banner for external emails; regular social engineering training; automatic account lockout on suspicious logins; require official channel verification for third-party information requests. "The most powerful currency of the digital age is truth."
