- SIM swap Hacker Eric Council Jr. made $50,000 from attacks, including compromising the SEC’s X account.
- Council used fake IDs and personal data to trick AT&T staff and gain account access, then shared access codes with associates.
- Council was caught after surveillance and a search uncovered evidence, leading to guilty pleas and a potential prison sentence.
Eric Council Jr., a hacker behind the SIM swap scheme that compromised the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) X account, earned $50,000 by conducting similar cyberattacks, according to filings by U.S. prosecutors. Authorities are seeking a two-year sentence for Council after the January incident where a false statement about spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) was posted from the SEC’s account.
Prosecutors stated that Council searched online for ways to detect FBI surveillance and how to erase his Telegram account, as revealed by a court filing from May 12. Investigators found that his Telegram chats, set to auto-delete after two weeks, still contained discussions with overseas individuals about SIM swaps. Council admitted to making about $50,000 between January and June 2024 by advertising SIM swapping services under the username “easymunny” and charging clients $1,200 to $1,500.
According to court documents, Council impersonated a specific victim identified by his co-conspirators as having access to the SEC’s X account. By creating fake identification and obtaining partial personal details, he convinced an AT&T employee to transfer the victim’s phone number to his SIM card. Prosecutors said he used this number to buy a new iPhone in Alabama, inserted the SIM, and sent account codes to his associates, who then announced the fake ETF approval on January 9. Payments for these services were made in Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies.
Surveillance agents arrested Council on June 12, 2024, after observing him attempt another SIM swap at an Apple store, using a different identity. A search warrant executed six days later led to the recovery of templates for fake IDs on his devices, as well as additional evidence, according to official filings.
Council pleaded guilty on February 10, after being indicted on charges of Conspiracy to Commit Aggravated Identity Theft and Access Device Fraud in October of the previous year. The fake SEC post reached over one million views within minutes; the legitimate SEC announcement followed about 15 minutes later.
The incident caused an initial $1,000 surge in Bitcoin Price, followed by a $2,000 drop, removing tens of millions of dollars from the market, according to data cited in court. Security teams from X confirmed that the SEC account lacked two-factor authentication at the time of the breach, which the SEC attributed to an error by X Support after a staff request.
For more background on blockchain and related technology, see the remarks by SEC Chair on the promise of blockchain and market activity.
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