Federal agents arrested a 25-year-old man in Athens, Alabama for participating in a conspiracy to take over a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) social media account, falsely announcing the approval of spot bitcoin exchange traded funds
The arrest was due to his one count of conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft and access device fraud. The hackers used a SIM swap to take over the smartphone of an SEC employee, and the arrested man created a fake ID to access the account. The false announcement led to a $1,000 jump in bitcoin valuation followed by a $2,000 decline once the SEC regained control. The incident resulted in charges for market manipulation and sham trading against multiple individuals and entities, with some agreeing to plead guilty. There are recommendations for a 5-year sentence for the Bitfinex hacker, while a Forcount promoter is set to serve 20 years for a Ponzi scheme. Additionally, Mt. Gox postponed its repayment deadline, a $50M hack occurred with vulnerabilities in Radiant Capital, and a German national involved in a $150M fraud is now a fugitive., https://www.bankinfosecurity.com/cryptohack-roundup-feds-arrest-alleged-sec-x-account-hacker-a-26550