A Scottish man by the name of James Alan Craig has been indicted by a federal grand jury for security fraud after he allegedly used Twitter to manipulate stock prices.
Craig, 62, set up several Twitter accounts in 2013. He made the accounts look like market research firms and used them to tweet false financial data on some companies. He would then buy the stocks for the companies whose prices have plunged and then profit later when the prices rebound.
The scam is said to have caused companies a total loss of over $1.6 million.
"This investigation dismantled a stock market manipulation scheme that operated with one goal in mind - to falsely defame a company in order to destroy its stock value for financial gain," FBI Special Agent in Charge David Johnson said in a statement, according to the Associated Press.
"The allegations in this indictment describe a significant stock price manipulation committed through the use of social media. This prosecution makes clear that we will find and prosecute those who commit fraud on our stock exchanges, by any means, no matter where they reside," said Brian Stretch, the acting U.S. Attorney for San Francisco, according to Bloomberg.
Craig's whereabouts could not immediately be determined, and it was unclear whether he had hired a lawyer, The Guardian reported.
