Hacker accused of manipulating Bitcoin prices with a fake SEC tweet was arrested after allegedly searching 'what are some signs the FBI is after you'

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My "I did not hack the SEC's X account" shirt is making people ask a lot of questions already answered by my shirt.

A gavel resting on a keyboard in front of a screen showing stock pricing changes.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

On January 9, 2024, a now-deleted tweet from @SECGov, the X account of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, declared that the SEC had granted "approval for Bitcoin ETFs for listing on all registered national securities exchanges," causing the price of Bitcoin to jump by more than $1,000. The SEC, however, had done no such thing. As SEC Chair Gary Gensler tweeted minutes later, the SEC's X account had been hacked; the fraudulent tweet was posted as part of a scheme to manipulate Bitcoin prices.

The hacker responsible for that scheme, according to the FBI, is Eric Council Jr., a 25-year-old Alabama man who was arrested earlier today under allegations of working with co-conspirators to take unauthorized control of the SEC X account with a SIM swap (via The Verge).

According to the indictment filings, Council—aka "Ronin," aka "AGiantSchnauzer," aka "@Easymunny"—allegedly worked alongside other hackers to gain access to the personal information of a federal employee with access to the @SECGov account. Council then used his convenient ID card printer—something only upstanding citizens have in their homes—to print an ID card pairing his face with the federal employee's personal info.

  • "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 FBI is after you"
  • "Verizon store list"
  • "federal identity theft statute"
  • "how long does it take to delete telegram account"

It's unclear whether these alleged searches contributed directly to Council's eventual arrest, but if you're considering searching "am I about to be entirely hoisted by the crime I may or may not have committed," I would advise against it. If you have to ask, you probably won't like the answer.

Also, you don't need to phrase your Google searches like questions. It's fine.

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Lincoln Carpenter
Lincoln Carpenter
News Writer

Lincoln has been writing about games for 12 years—unless you include the essays about procedural storytelling in Dwarf Fortress he convinced his college professors to accept. Leveraging the brainworms from a youth spent in World of Warcraft to write for sites like Waypoint, Polygon, and Fanbyte, Lincoln spent three years freelancing for PC Gamer before joining on as a full-time News Writer in 2024, bringing an expertise in Caves of Qud bird diplomacy, getting sons killed in Crusader Kings, and hitting dinosaurs with hammers in Monster Hunter.