"SEC Charges 18 Over Scheme Involving Hacked Brokerage Accounts"

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently announced charges against 18 individuals and entities for their roles in a pump-and-dump scheme that involved account hacking.  As part of the scheme, the participating individuals allegedly conspired with others to hack into tens of online retail brokerage accounts to manipulate the prices of specific stocks.  The SEC stated that specifically, the individuals purchased shares of the common stock of public microcap companies Lotus Bio-Technology Development Corp. (LBTD) and Good Gaming, Inc. (GMER), then used the hacked accounts to artificially increase the prices of these shares by making large purchases of the same stock.  According to the SEC, the defendants then proceeded to sell their shares at the inflated prices, “generating approximately $1.3 million in proceeds and creating substantial profits.”  The SEC claims that more than 30 US retail brokerage accounts were hacked as part of the scheme.  SEC says the defendants, which are Canadian, US, and UK nationals, were organized into two overlapping groups.

SecurityWeek reports: "SEC Charges 18 Over Scheme Involving Hacked Brokerage Accounts"