What happened
On January 9, 2024, attackers took over the SEC's @SECgov account on X and posted a false announcement that the agency had approved spot Bitcoin ETFs. Eric Council Jr., 26, of Athens, Alabama, executed the SIM swap that made it possible; he pleaded guilty on February 10, 2025 to conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft and access device fraud, and was sentenced to 14 months in prison plus forfeiture of $50,000.
How the deception worked
Council printed a counterfeit identification card on a portable card printer using personal details supplied by co-conspirators, then walked into an AT&T store in Huntsville, Alabama and asked for a replacement SIM for the number tied to the @SECgov account. Store staff issued it against the fake document. He activated the SIM in a newly purchased iPhone, received the password-reset code for the X account, and passed it to the conspirators, who posted the fabricated ETF approval. Bitcoin moved over $1,000 within minutes. The FBI later found fake-ID templates and searches about FBI investigations at his residence.
AI involvement · No AI reported
No AI involvement was reported; the impersonation used a physically printed counterfeit ID card.
The control that would have caught it· our reading, not a claim from the sources
High-consequence institutional social accounts should be secured with hardware security keys rather than SMS-based recovery, and carrier retail ID checks need document-authentication technology rather than visual inspection.
Sources (2)
- Alabama Man Sentenced in Hack of SEC X Account that Spiked the Value of BitcoinU.S. Department of Justice·justice.govOpen ↗
- Hacker pleads guilty to SIM swap attack on US SEC X accountBleepingComputer·bleepingcomputer.comOpen ↗
This entry summarises public reporting. It is not a legal finding, and details can change as investigations conclude. Found an error? Send a correction.