According to the indictment, he looked up the question “how can I know for sure if I am being investigated by the FBI?” after conducting the search.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has taken into custody a guy from Alabama who is 25 years old for his suspected involvement in the takeover of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) X account earlier this year. A rogue tweet was sent out as a result of the attack, which exaggerated the fact that the regulator had given its approval to bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which temporarily boosted the price of bitcoin.
The FBI has now determined that Eric Council Jr. is one of the individuals who are believed to be responsible for the exploit. The Justice Department has stated that Council has been charged with conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft as well as access device fraud. Although the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had previously revealed that its X account had been penetrated through a SIM swap assault, the indictment provides fresh details regarding the alleged manner in which the attack was carried out.
Council allegedly collaborated with other individuals who were involved in the conspiracy, and he coordinated with them through the use of encrypted chat apps and text messages. According to the allegations, these individuals who have not been identified supplied him the personal information of a person who was only described as “C.L.” and who had access to the SEC X account. After that, the Department of Justice claims that Council used the information to print a phony identification card, which they then used to purchase a new SIM card and an iPhone in their own name. After that, he collaborated with the other persons so that they could enter the SEC’s X account, change its settings, and send the rogue tweet, according to the indictment.
Bitcoin prices had a momentary surge of more than $1,000 as a result of a tweet sent out by @SECGov. This tweet was sent out one day before the SEC actually approved 11 spot bitcoin ETFS. Additionally, it prompted inquiries as to the reason why the high-profile account was not protected by multi-factor authentication at the time of the incident. Inspector General Jeffrey of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a statement in which he said, “Today’s arrest demonstrates our commitment to holding bad actors accountable for undermining the integrity of the international financial markets.”
Furthermore, the indictment makes reference to the fact that Council is accused of conducting a number of searches on his own computer that appeared to be incriminating. The keywords he searched for included: “SECGOV hack,” “telegram sim swap,” “how can I know for sure if I am being investigated by the FBI,” “What are the signs that you are under investigation by law enforcement or the FBI even if you have not been contacted by them,” “what are some signs that the FBl is after you,” “Verizon store list,” “federal identity theft statute,” and most importantly “how long does it take to delete telegram account,” according to the preliminary indictment.