Official actionIndictmentExtradition
Tampa, FL – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida (MDFL) announced today the extradition of Adedotun Abraham Adeyemo (47, of Pretoria, South Africa) and the unsealing of a superseding indictment charging him with two counts of wire fraud and two related counts of aggravated identity theft. Each wire fraud count carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, and each aggravated identity theft count carries a mandatory two-year prison term, consecutive to any sentence for the underlying felony. This case is part of nationwide enforcement actions led by the Just
Official actionDisruption
“Transnational fraud demands a transnational response,” said U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro for the District of Columbia, founder of the Scam Center Strike Force. “I have partnered with the NCA and the Crown Prosecutor for England and Wales to push forward cases on both sides of the Atlantic; criminals are not hindered by borders and neither are we. We will deploy our team wherever in the world transnational criminals target innocent victims.”
Official actionIndictment
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio has announced the unsealing of a 58-page indictment charging U.S. citizens and Chinese nationals for their roles in an IT worker conspiracy affecting more than 70 U.S. companies. These charges are the result of a year-long investigation.
Official actionDisruption
United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Ryan Raybould and FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge R. Joseph Rothrock today announced today that federal agents have disrupted a major illicit laptop‑hosting network that enabled Democratic People's Republic of Korea IT workers to unlawfully access U.S. corporate systems using stolen or falsified American identities.
Today the Department of Justice announced coordinated actions against the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea (DPRK) government’s schemes to fund its regime through remote information technology (IT) work for U.S. companies.
Today the Justice Department and FBI announced court-authorized seizures to deny malicious cyber actors access to two hacking tools, “Microscan” and “FishHub,” used to scan and, in some cases, hack, U.S. and foreign critical infrastructure systems and other networks.
Official actionGuilty plea
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Oleg Korniev, 42, a dual citizen of Ukraine and Russia, pleaded guilty today to running a sophisticated international money laundering organization that laundered millions of dollars stolen from United States victims by cybercriminals around the world. In total, this international criminal organization recruited over 15,000 U.S.-based money mules to launder at least $10 million stolen by hackers from over 750 U.S. bank accounts. “Money mules play crucial roles in cybercrime, so the Justice Department pursues mules and their recruiters wherever they operate and however long it
Actor profile: Play
Official actionSentencingGuilty plea
Brad D. Schimel, First Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, announced that on October 6, 2026, United States District Judge Brett H. Ludwig sentenced Ankurkumar Patel (age 44) of Brookfield, Wisconsin, to 84 months imprisonment. On June 15, 2026, Patel pled guilty to one count of money laundering conspiracy for laundering over $1 million stolen from elderly victims in multiple states who fell prey to a “Phantom Hacker Scam.” Phantom Hacker Scams are a type of fraud that primarily targets elderly victims. A participant in the scheme, who is often located overs
Official actionSentencing
A 35-year-old Houston resident will serve federal prison time for illegally transmitting proceeds from an email scam
Official actionIndictmentConviction
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jamie McDonald, announced the conviction by jury of JONATHAN SPALLETTA, a/k/a “Cthulhon,” a/k/a “Jspalletta,” for computer fraud and money laundering in connection with his hacks of the decentralized cryptocurrency exchange Uranium Finance (“Uranium”). SPALLETTA was convicted on all counts of the Indictment following a six day jury trial before U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff.
Official actionIndictment
BROOKLYN, NY — Earlier today, Zohar Pinhasi, also known as “Zack Silver” and “Zack Green,” was arraigned on wire fraud charges for allegedly defrauding clients of his ransomware remediation company, MonsterCloud LLC (MonsterCloud). Pinhasi, a national of the United States and Israel, was indicted by a grand jury in the Eastern District of New York on September 23, 2026. The proceeding was held in federal court in Brooklyn before United States Magistrate Judge Peggy Cross‑Goldenberg.
Official actionSentencing
The illegal products on Empire Market included drugs, stolen personally identifying information, and computer-hacking tools.
Official actionSentencingGuilty plea
ABINGDON, Va. – Two individuals who conspired with others to execute a business email compromise scheme that stole more than $1.5 million from victims throughout the United States were recently sentenced in U.S. District Court in Abingdon. Shelton, 57, of Wytheville, Virginia, and Olivia Oxley, 36, of Brooklyn, New York, both pleaded guilty in July last year to conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud. For her role in the conspiracy, Oxley was sentenced to one year and one day of imprisonment followed by three years of supervised release. Shelton was sentenced to 300 hours of community service
Official actionArrestIndictment
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – On September 16, 2026, a federal grand jury in the District of Puerto Rico returned an indictment charging a Dutch national who resides in the United Kingdom with conspiracy to intentionally access a computer without authorization for financial gain, intentionally causing damage without authorization to a protected computer, and intentionally transmitting a threat to obtain information from a protected computer without authorization with the intent to extort. The Dutch national named in the indictment, Fouad Eltibrizi (a/k/a Archduke), was arrested on September 30, 2026
Official actionArrestTakedown
Official actionSentencing
DES MOINES, Iowa –Two Delaware men were sentenced on September 25, 2026, to a combined 189 months in federal prison for their roles in an international cyber intrusion scheme.
Official actionGuilty plea
COLUMBUS, Ohio – A Columbus man pleaded guilty in federal court here today, admitting he received and laundered more than $1 million in proceeds of a business email compromise scam.
BOSTON – The United States Attorney’s Office filed a civil forfeiture action to recover 110,270 USDT (Tether), alleged to be proceeds of a fraud scheme in which a Massachusetts victim was deceived into providing account login information to scammers, who then removed funds from the victim’s account. The cryptocurrency currently has an estimated value of approximately $47,000.
Official actionIndictment
A federal grand jury in the Southern District of Florida has returned an indictment charging a Pakistani national with operating an unauthorized website that allegedly sold more than 5 million counterfeit U.S. postage labels, causing more than $126 million in losses to the U.S. Postal Service (USPS).
Official actionGuilty plea
Ardit Kutleshi, 28, a Kosovar national, pleaded guilty to charges related to his creation and operation of Rydox, an illicit website and marketplace for cybercriminals to buy, sell and trade stolen personal information, and to access devices and other tools for carrying out cybercrime and fraud.
Official actionSentencingExtradition
An Armenian citizen, extradited from Ukraine to the United States, was sentenced to federal prison today for his role in RYUK ransomware attacks and an extortion conspiracy targeting companies throughout the United States, including in Oregon.
Official actionSeizureDisruption
ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The Justice Department today announced the court-authorized seizure of internet domains associated with one of the world’s longest running Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) for-hire services known as “NightmareStresser.” Federal law enforcement has seized websites maintained by criminal service providers that allow paying customers to launch powerful DDoS attacks targeting victims in the District of Alaska and worldwide as part of coordinated actions to disrupt so called “Booter” or “Stresser” operators. Booter services such as those named in this action allegedly facili
Official actionIndictment
SAN FRANCISCO – A federal grand jury has indicted Searzhudin Tamirlanovich Aktulaev on charges of Conspiracy, Transmission of a Program, Information, Code, and Command to Cause Damage to a Protected Computer, and Aggravated Identity Theft, among other offenses
Official actionTakedownDisruption
The Department of Justice today announced a multinational operation involving actions in the United States, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania, in collaboration with private industry partners CrowdStrike and the Shadowserver Foundation, to disrupt the botnet and malware known as Sality and take down its infrastructure.
Official actionSeizureSanctionDisruption
The Department of Justice today announced the disruption of an ongoing scheme by Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiyya (Hamas) — a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization — to raise funds for terrorist operations and recruit supporters, said U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.
The Justice Department and FBI announced court-authorized domain seizures today to deny malicious cyber actors access to two complementary hacking platforms known as “QScan” and “QTRouter,” used to target U.S. critical infrastructure and other sensitive networks.
Official actionIndictment
A 14-count superseding (S2) indictment was unsealed today charging 17 members of the Mabna Institute, an Iran-based company that, since at least 2013, has conducted a coordinated campaign of cyber intrusions into computer systems for 144 U.S.-based universities, 178 foreign universities, at least 42 U.S.-based private sector companies, at least 11 foreign private sector companies, at least five U.S. federal and state government agencies, and at least two non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The Mabna Institute stole more than 31 terabytes of academic data and intellectual property from these
Official actionIndictmentSentencingExtradition
Official actionIndictment
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio has announced the unsealing of an indictment charging three Russian nationals for their roles in malicious cyber activities against U.S. critical infrastructure affecting victims in 21 states and in several countries, with losses amounting to tens of millions of dollars. These charges are the result of a seven-year-long investigation.
Official actionIndictment
An indictment was unsealed today in the Northern District of Ohio charging three Russian nationals and two related “bulletproof hosting” companies for their roles in cybercrimes against U.S. victims, causing tens of millions of dollars in losses.
Official actionIndictmentSeizureConviction
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Rossen G. Iossifov, 53, a former Bulgarian national, made an initial appearance in federal court in the Eastern District of Kentucky yesterday on charges of the destruction or removal of property to prevent seizure, aiding and abetting, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The charges stem from Iossifov’s alleged role in the unauthorized withdrawal and transfer of approximately $290,000 in cryptocurrency that had been seized and forfeited by the United States. “Having been convicted of a widespread online auction fraud scheme targeting U.S. victims, Iossifov is now charg
BURLINGTON – The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont announced today that it had successfully obtained a judgment in forfeiture for $2,270,202.39 in funds stolen from the Chittenden Solid Waste District (CSWD) in a cyber-enabled fraud scheme. United States District Judge William K. Sessions III signed the order of forfeiture and judgment on July 2, 2026, releasing the funds to the government. According to the settlement agreement in the case, the funds will now be returned to CSWD by the United States Marshals Service. As explained in documents from the case, in la
Official actionArrestExtradition
An alleged member of the criminal cyber hacking group Scattered Spider has been arrested in Finland and extradited to the United States to face federal criminal conspiracy charges in the Northern District of Illinois.
Official actionArrestExtradition
“As Co-Chair of the White Collar, Cyber, and Crypto Subcommittee of Acting Attorney General Blanche’s Advisory Committee, I am acutely aware of the significant and growing threat posed by brazen cyber criminals," said U.S. Attorney Andrew S. Boutros.
Today, the Justice Department announced the seizure of a cloud computing account used by subsidiaries of the Huione Group, a Cambodia-based corporate conglomerate. These subsidiaries are alleged to have assisted individuals and organizations in transferring proceeds of cryptocurrency investment frauds, cyber scams, and other criminal activities on cryptocurrency blockchains and allowing for the conversion of the proceeds of these schemes to the legitimate banking sector undetected.
Official actionConviction
Two young men have admitted mounting a cyber attack on Transport for London (TfL), which cost tens of millions of pounds in losses and inconvenienced thousands of customers.
Official actionArrestIndictmentExtradition
U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced today that Abdellah Belmili, a/k/a Dila Belmili, a/k/a SPOX, 26, a citizen of Algeria, was arrested and charged by criminal complaint with conspiracy to commit bank fraud, which carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison.
Official actionArrestIndictmentTakedown
PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Ruslan Igorevich Tkachuk, 37, and Alexander Vladimirovich Ledenev, 25, both residing in Batumi, Republic of Georgia, were arrested on Wednesday and charged by criminal complaint with one count of conspiracy to launder monetary instruments and one count of sting money laundering, arising from their alleged operation of “AudiA6,” a cryptocurrency money laundering service believed responsible for laundering more than $389 million in cryptocurrency. A coordinated international takedown of AudiA6 and its infrastructure was conducted
Thirteen internet domains used to target U.S. persons, including current and former security clearance holders with access to classified and sensitive U.S. government information, were seized today by federal authorities, announced U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.
Official actionDisruption
The Department of Justice, through U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro for the District of Columbia and Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, today announced the results of a first-of-its-kind event combining the focus of government entities and private industries to tackle cyber-enabled and cryptocurrency fraud targeting Americans.
Official actionArrestIndictment
ANCHORAGE, Alaska – A criminal complaint was unsealed in the District of Alaska today charging a Canadian man with operating the KimWolf Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) Internet of Things (IoT) botnet. The U.S. complaint was unsealed following the defendant’s arrest in Canada by Canadian authorities.
Official actionTakedownDisruption
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Official actionArrestIndictment
Owe Martin Andresen, the suspected main administrator of Dream Market, one of the largest illicit darknet marketplaces before its 2019 shutdown, has been indicted for an alleged scheme to launder funds from Dream Market’s administrator accounts. Andresen was arrested last week in Germany on parallel charges brought by the German government.
Official actionArrestIndictmentExtradition
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A Romanian national appeared in court today to face bank fraud charges for his role in a “vishing” scheme, following his extradition from Romania, announced Russ Ferguson, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. On November 14, 2017, a federal grand jury in Charlotte returned a criminal indictment charging Gavril Sandu, 53, with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and one count of bank fraud. Sandu was arrested in Romania on January 9, 2026. He was extradited to the United States on April 30, 2026. “Greed crosses borders, but so does our relentless
Official actionIndictment
Baltimore, Maryland – A Maryland man is facing federal indictment stemming from an unauthorized computer access scheme involving a Maryland medical system. Matthew Bathula, 41, of Clarksville, Maryland, is charged with two counts of unauthorized access to a protected computer, and one count of aggravated identity theft while working as a pharmacy clinical specialist for Company A, a medical system located in the District of Maryland.
Official actionIndictmentExtradition
Xu Zewei (徐泽伟), 34, of the People’s Republic of China was extradited to the United States this weekend and appeared today in U.S. District Court in Houston on a nine-count indictment related to his involvement in computer intrusions between February 2020 and June 2021. Certain of those computer intrusions allegedly are part of the HAFNIUM computer intrusion campaign that compromised thousands of computers worldwide, including in the United States. Other intrusions targeted U.S. COVID-19 research during the height of the pandemic. Xu is charged along with Zhang Yu (张宇), 44, who is also a PRC na
Official actionDisruption
ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The U.S. Justice Department today announced multiple court-authorized actions taken to disrupt some of the world’s leading Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) Internet of Things (IoT) botnet services.
Official actionArrestIndictment
PHOENIX, Ariz. – Gary Christopher, 59, of Port Saint Lucie, Florida, was arrested on April 10, and charged by criminal complaint with conspiring to launder money for his role as a courier in a broader fraud scheme that targeted an elderly victim in Phoenix. Christopher made his initial appearance in federal court on April 13.
Official actionDisruption
PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf, the Department of Justice, and the FBI today announced a court-authorized technical operation to neutralize the U.S. portion of a network of small office/home office (SOHO) routers compromised by a unit within Russia’s Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff (GRU) Military Unit 26165, also known as APT28, Sofacy Group, Forest Blizzard, Pawn Storm, Fancy Bear, and Sednit. The unit used the routers to facilitate malicious Domain Name System (DNS) hijacking operations against worldwide targets of intelligence interest to the Russian
Official actionIndictment
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, and Kevin Murphy, Acting Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”) San Diego, announced the unsealing of an Indictment charging JONATHAN SPALLETTA, a/k/a “Cthulhon,” a/k/a “Jspalletta,” with computer fraud and money laundering in connection with his hacks of the decentralized cryptocurrency exchange Uranium Finance (“Uranium”).
Official actionIndictmentExtradition
Hambardzum Minasyan was extradited to the U.S. where he faces criminal charges related to his alleged role in an infostealer scheme
Official actionArrestIndictmentSentencing
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA- Aleksei Volkov, 26, of St. Petersburg, Russia, has been sentenced to 81 months in federal prison for assisting major cybercrime groups, including the Yanluowang ransomware group, carry out numerous attacks against U.S. companies and other organizations. Volkov facilitated dozens of ransomware attacks throughout the United States, causing over $9 million in actual losses and over $24 million in intended losses. Volkov was indicted for this activity in both the Southern District of Indiana and Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Police in Rome, Italy arrested Volkov a
Official actionSentencingGuilty plea
DETROIT – A Russian national was sentenced yesterday to twenty-four months in prison after having pleaded guilty to managing the operation of a botnet (a network of computers infected by malware and controlled remotely by cybercriminals) that was used to launch ransomware attacks on the networks of dozens of U.S. corporations, announced United States Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon Jr. and Special Agent in Charge Jennifer Runyan of the FBI Detroit Field Division. Ilya Angelov, 40, of Tolyatti, Russia was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Nancy Edmunds, who also fined Angelov $100,000 and entere
Official actionSeizureDisruption
Today, the Justice Department announced the seizure of four domains as part of an ongoing effort to disrupt hacking and transnational repression schemes conducted by the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS). The affidavit supporting the seizure warrant can be found
Official actionDisruption
ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The U.S. Justice Department participated in a court-authorized law enforcement operation today to disrupt Command and Control (C2) infrastructure used by the Aisuru, KimWolf, JackSkid and Mossad Internet of Things (IoT) botnets.
Official actionIndictmentConviction
Kwamaine Jerell Ford has been charged with targeting professional athletes through a phishing scam and thereafter engaging in a fraud and sex trafficking scheme. In 2019, in the Northern District of Georgia, Ford was convicted of computer fraud and aggravated identity theft for perpetrating similar phishing attacks and spending nearly $325,000 by using his victims’ stolen financial information.
Official actionDisruption
A court-authorized international law enforcement operation led by the U.S. Justice Department disrupted SocksEscort, a residential proxy network used to exploit thousands of residential routers worldwide and commit large-scale fraud.
The Department of Justice announced today the seizure of the LeakBase database, one of the world’s largest online forums for cybercriminals to buy and sell stolen data and cybercrime tools.
Official actionIndictment
BOSTON – Two Venezuelan nationals, alleged to be members of the violent transitional criminal organization Tren De Aragua, have been charged in connection with an ATM jackpotting conspiracy that included robberies and attempted robberies in Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Connecticut and Rhode Island. ATM jackpotting schemes typically involve a crew of individuals who travel to targeted ATMs and install malware directly to the ATM’s software programming to force the ATM to dispense all its cash.
Official actionSeizureSentencing
Peter Williams, 39, an Australian national, was sentenced in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to 87 months in prison for selling his employer’s trade secrets — sensitive and protected cyber-exploit components — to a Russian cyber-tools broker, announced the Department of Justice. In addition to the 87-month prison term, U.S. District Court Judge AliKhan for the District of Columbia ordered Williams to serve three years of supervised release with special conditions, to forfeit a money judgment of $1.3 million, cryptocurrency and property to include a house, and luxury items
Official actionIndictment
A federal grand jury in the District of Nebraska returned an indictment Wednesday charging six individuals for their roles in a large conspiracy to deploy malware and steal millions of dollars from ATMs in the United States, a crime commonly referred to as “ATM jackpotting.”
Official actionIndictment
A federal grand jury in New Haven has returned a 45-count indictment charging AMITOJ KAPOOR, 29, and SIDDHARTH LILLANEY, 29, both of Glastonbury, with fraud, identity theft, and money laundering offenses stemming from a scheme to use stolen identities to defraud FanDuel and other online gambling companies of millions of dollars.
Last week, the government obtained legal title over more than $400 million in seized cryptocurrencies, real estate, and monetary assets tied to the operation of the darknet mixing service, Helix.
The United States last week obtained legal title to more than $400 million worth of seized cryptocurrencies, real estate, and monetary assets tied to the operation of the darknet mixing service Helix.
Official actionIndictment
A federal grand jury in the District of Nebraska returned an additional indictment Thursday charging 31 individuals for their roles in a large conspiracy to deploy malware and steal millions of dollars from ATMs in the United States, a crime commonly referred to as “ATM jackpotting.”
Official actionIndictment
BOSTON – An Illinois man has been charged in federal court in Boston with phishing the Snapchat access codes of nearly 600 women in an effort to hack their Snapchat accounts and steal nude photos, which he kept, sold, or traded on the internet.
The Justice Department today announced the seizure of a web domain and database used in furtherance of a scheme to target and defraud Americans through bank account takeover fraud. The domain, web3adspanels.org, was used by those involved in the scheme as a backend web panel to store and manipulate illegally harvested bank login credentials. This domain seizure comes approximately one month after the FBI issued a Public Service Announcement relating to Account Takeover Fraud via Impersonation of Financial Institution Support.
Official actionArrestGuilty pleaExtradition
Earlier today, in federal court in Brooklyn, Artem Stryzhak pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud and related activity, including extortion, in connection with computers, for his role in a series of international ransomware attacks. Stryzhak, a Ukrainian citizen, was arrested in Spain in June 2024 and extradited to the United States on April 30, 2025.
Official actionIndictment
United States Attorney Lesley A. Woods announced that a federal grand jury in the District of Nebraska has returned two indictments charging 54 individuals for their roles in a large conspiracy to deploy malware and steal millions of dollars from ATMs in the United States, a crime commonly referred to as “ATM jackpotting.”
Official actionIndictmentSeizure
BOZEMAN – The operator of illegal online marketplaces that sold digital templates of false identity documents, such as passports, social security cards, and driver’s licenses, was charged in a nine-count federal indictment unsealed in the District of Montana today, U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme said. The United States also announced that it seized three of the marketplace domains used for selling fraudulent identity documents around the world. Zahid Hasan, 29, of Dhaka, Bangladesh, is charged with six counts of transfer of false identification documents, two counts of false use of a passport, and on
Official actionTakedownDisruption
DETROIT - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan announced today a coordinated action with international partners and the Michigan State Police to disrupt and take down the online infrastructure used to operate E-Note, a cryptocurrency exchange that allegedly facilitated money laundering by transnational cyber-criminal organizations, including those targeting U.S. healthcare and critical infrastructure. Since 2017, the FBI identified more than $70,000,000 of illicit proceeds of ransomware attacks and account takeovers transferred via E-Note payment service and
Official actionIndictment
A federal grand jury in the District of Columbia returned an indictment yesterday charging a former senior manager at a Virginia-based government contractor with major government fraud, wire fraud, and obstructing federal audits for allegedly carrying out a multi-year scheme to mislead federal agencies about the security of a cloud-based platform used by the U.S. Army and other government customers.
Official actionIndictment
The Justice Department announced two indictments in the Central District of California charging Ukrainian national Victoria Eduardovna Dubranova, 33, also known as Vika, Tory, and SovaSonya, for her role in conducting cyberattacks and computer intrusions against critical infrastructure and other victims around the world, in support of Russia’s geopolitical interests.
Two Virginia men were arrested today for their roles in a conspiracy to destroy government databases hosted by a federal government contractor, among other crimes.
Official actionIndictment
DES MOINES, Iowa – On October 15, 2025, a federal grand jury in Des Moines charged a Des Moines man with computer fraud.
The Justice Department today announced five guilty pleas and more than $15 million in civil forfeiture actions against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) remote information technology (IT) work and virtual currency heist schemes.
Official actionDisruption
Official actionIndictmentExtradition
Following his extradition from Ireland, a Ukrainian man had his initial appearance today in the Middle District of Tennessee on a 2023 indictment charging him with conspiracy to deploy Conti, a ransomware variant that infected victim computers and networks, encrypting their data.
Actor profile: Conti
Official actionIndictment
A complaint filed in the District of New Jersey was unsealed today charging Thalha Jubair, a United Kingdom national, with conspiracies to commit computer fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering, in relation to at least 120 computer network intrusions and extortion involving 47 U.S. entities.
Official actionArrestIndictment
PITTSBURGH, Pa. - A Nigerian citizen residing in the United Kingdom has been arrested pursuant to a United States request for extradition following his indictment on charges of wire fraud and computer fraud, Acting United States Attorney Troy Rivetti announced today. Farouk Adekunle Adepoju was arrested by U.K. authorities on September 15, 2025, and is currently awaiting extradition to the United States to face the seven-count Indictment in the Western District of Pennsylvania. According to the Indictment, which was unsealed today, between March 2023 and April 2023, Adepoju remotely accessed a
Official actionIndictment
Earlier today, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York unsealed a superseding indictment charging Volodymyr Viktorovich Tymoshchuk — also known as deadforz, Boba, msfv, and farnetwork — a Ukrainian national, with serving as an administrator in the LockerGoga, MegaCortex, and Nefilim ransomware schemes.
The Justice Department has filed a civil forfeiture complaint against over $5 million in bitcoin (BTC). The funds are alleged to be ill-gotten gains from multiple SIM swap attacks targeting victims across the United States, announced U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.
Official actionIndictment
BROOKLYN, NY – Earlier today, a superseding indictment was unsealed charging Volodymyr Tymoshchuk, also known as “deadforz,” “Boba,” “msfv,” and “farnetwork,” a Ukrainian national, for his role in international ransomware schemes. Tymoshchuk is not in U.S. custody.
The operators of VerifTools produced and sold counterfeit driver’s licenses, passports, and other identification documents that could be used to bypass identity verification systems and gain unauthorized access to online accounts.
Official actionSeizureSentencing
Jacksonville, Florida – Senior U.S. District Judge Harvey E. Schlesinger has sentenced Noah Michael Urban (20, Palm Coast), a/k/a “King Bob,” “Sosa,” “Elijah,” and “Gustavo Fring,” to 10 years in federal prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft. The court also ordered Urban to forfeit approximately $4.8 million in assets, which includes cryptocurrency and other property. Urban was also ordered to pay $13 million in restitution. Urban entered a guilty plea on April 4, 2025.
Official actionIndictment
U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced today that a federal grand jury has returned a superseding indictment charging Terrance Michael Ciszek a/k/a DrMonster, 35, of Buffalo, NY, with affecting transactions with access devices issued to other persons and aggravated identity theft, which carry a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Ciszek was previously indicted on charges of possession of unauthorized access devices with intent to defraud and making a false statement to an agency of the United States.
Official actionIndictment
ANCHORAGE, Alaska – An Oregon man was charged by a federal criminal complaint today in the District of Alaska on charges related to his alleged development and administration of the “Rapper Bot” DDoS-for-hire Botnet that has conducted large-scale cyber-attacks since at least 2021.
The Department of Justice unsealed six warrants yesterday in the U.S. District Courts for the Northern District of Texas, the Eastern District of Virginia, and the Central District of California, authorizing the seizure of over $2.8 million in cryptocurrency, $70,000 in cash, and a luxury vehicle.
Official actionTakedownDisruption
The Justice Department announced today coordinated actions against the BlackSuit (Royal) Ransomware group which included the takedown of four servers and nine domains on July 24, 2025.
Official actionTakedownDisruption
The Justice Department today announced coordinated actions against the BlackSuit (Royal) Ransomware group which included the takedown of four servers and nine domains on July 24. The takedown was conducted by the Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the U.S. Secret Service, IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), the FBI, and international law enforcement from the United Kingdom, Germany, Ireland, France, Canada, Ukraine, and Lithuania.
Official actionIndictmentExtradition
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, and Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), Christopher G. Raia, announced today the unsealing of an Indictment charging four Ghanaian nationals, ISAAC ODURO BOATENG, a/k/a “Kofi Boat,” INUSAH AHMED, a/k/a “Pascal,” DERRICK VAN YEBOAH, a/k/a “Van,” and PATRICK KWAME ASARE, a/k/a “Borgar,” for their roles in an international criminal organization that stole more than $100 million from victims via romance scams and business email compromises.
Official actionIndictmentGuilty plea
JACKSON, MS – Two individuals with ties to the Venezuelan organized crime syndicate Tren de Araqua pleaded guilty to bank theft, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Patrick A. Lemon of the Southern District of Mississippi and FBI Special Agent in Charge Robert A. Eikhoff. According to court documents and statements made in open court, Jesus Rene Cabrera Tobias, 25 and Darwin Javier Delgado, 46, pleaded guilty after being indicted by a federal grand jury for bank theft. On August 8, 2024, Tobias and Delgado stole $21,500 from an ATM machine in Enterprise, Mississippi by hacking the ATM operating sys
A 33-year-old Chinese national has been taken into custody for his alleged involvement in U.S. computer intrusions between February 2020 and June 2021, including the reckless and indiscriminate HAFNIUM campaign that compromised thousands of computers worldwide.
The Justice Department announced today that Xu Zewei (徐泽伟), 33, of the People’s Republic of China was arrested on July 3 in Italy at the request of the United States.
Official actionIndictment
Four North Korean nationals, Kim Kwang Jin (김관진), Kang Tae Bok (강태복), Jong Pong Ju (정봉주), and Chang Nam Il (창남일), have been charged in a five-count wire fraud and money laundering indictment arising from a scheme to be hired as remote IT workers and then steal and launder over $900,000 in virtual currency.
Official actionIndictment
The United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, and the Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), Christopher G. Raia, announced the unsealing of a four-count criminal Indictment and Complaint charging KAI WEST, a/k/a “IntelBroker,” a/k/a “Kyle Northern,” with a years-long hacking scheme committed through the online identity “IntelBroker.”
Official actionSeizureSanction
The Department of Justice filed a civil forfeiture complaint today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia alleging that North Korean information technology (IT) workers obtained illegal employment and amassed millions in cryptocurrency for the benefit of the North Korean government, all as a means of evading U.S. sanctions placed on North Korea.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia announced today the seizure of approximately 145 darknet and traditional internet domains, and cryptocurrency funds associated with the BidenCash marketplace.
Official actionSeizureDisruption
A coordinated effort involving an international disruption of an online software crypting syndicate which provides services to cybercriminals to assist them with keeping their malicious software (malware) from being detected has resulted in the seizure of four domains and their associated server
Official actionIndictmentDisruptionGuilty plea
Note: see indictment here . An Iranian national pleaded guilty today to participating in an international ransomware and extortion scheme involving the Robbinhood ransomware. According to court documents and statements made in court, Sina Gholinejad, 37, and his co-conspirators compromised the computer networks of cities, corporations, health care organizations, and other entities around the United States, and encrypted files on these victim networks with the Robbinhood ransomware variant to extort ransom payments. These cyber attacks caused significant disruptions and tens of millions in loss
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Today, the Attorney General and the Department of Justice’s Joint Criminal Opioid and Darknet Enforcement (JCODE) team, and international law enforcement partners announced the results of Operation RapTor, including the arrests of 270 dark web vendors, buyers, and administrators in Austria, Brazil, France, Germany, the Netherlands, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
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A federal grand jury indictment unsealed today charges a Russian national with leading a group of cyber criminals that developed and deployed the Qakbot malware that infected thousands of computers worldwide, installing ransomware and demanding payment from victims.
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A federal grand jury indictment and criminal complaint unsealed today charge 16 defendants who allegedly developed and deployed the DanaBot malware which a Russia-based cybercrime organization controlled and deployed, infecting more than 300,000 victim computers around the world, facilitated fraud and ransomware, and caused at least $50 million in damage.
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A federal indictment unsealed today charges Rustam Rafailevich Gallyamov, 48, of Moscow, Russia, with leading a group of cyber criminals who developed and deployed the Qakbot malware. In connection with the charges, the Justice Department filed today a civil forfeiture complaint against over $24 million in cryptocurrency seized from Gallyamov over the course of the investigation.
The Justice Department announced today the unsealing of two warrants authorizing the seizure of five internet domains used by malicious cyber actors to operate the LummaC2 information-stealing malware service.
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BOSTON – A student at Assumption University in Worcester, Mass., has been charged, and has agreed to plead guilty, in connection with hacking into the computer networks of two U.S.-based companies and extorting the companies for ransoms.
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A four-count superseding indictment, unsealed today in U.S. District Court, charges 12 additional people – Americans and foreign nationals – for allegedly participating in a cyber-enabled racketeering conspiracy throughout the United States and abroad that netted them more than $263 million. Several were arrested this week in California, while two remain abroad and are believed to be living in Dubai.
Official actionIndictmentExtradition
Tampa, Florida – United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe announces the extradition of Liridon Masurica (33, Gjilan, Kosovo), also known as “@blackdb.” Masurica is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit access device fraud and five substantive counts of fraudulent use of 15 or more unauthorized access devices. If convicted on all counts, Masurica faces a maximum penalty of 55 years in federal prison.
Official actionIndictmentSeizureDisruption
A domain seizure warrant was unsealed, along with an indictment charging four foreign national hackers with conspiracy and other computer crimes, announced U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson.
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The Justice Department today announced the court-authorized seizure of nine internet domains associated with some of the world’s leading DDoS-for-hire services. Poland’s Central Cybercrime Bureau simultaneously announced the arrests of four administrators of such services, investigations which were assisted by U.S. authorities. Several of the arrested administrators operated websites seized pursuant to previous operations by the Central District of California.
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A Yemeni national was charged today in a three-count federal grand jury indictment alleging he deployed the so-called “Black Kingdom” ransomware against computer servers owned organizations worldwide, including businesses, schools, and hospitals in the United States, including a medical billing services company in the San Fernando Valley.
Official actionArrestIndictmentExtradition
Earlier today, in federal court in Brooklyn, a superseding indictment was unsealed charging Artem Stryzhak with conspiracy to commit fraud and related activity, including extortion, in connection with computers, for his role in a series of international attacks using the Nefilim ransomware. Stryzhak, a Ukrainian citizen, was arrested in Spain in June 2024 and extradited to the United States on April 30, 2025.
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Orlando, Florida – U.S. District Judge Julie S. Sneed has sentenced Michael Scheuer (40, Winter Garden) to three years in federal prison for knowingly transmitting a program, code, or command to a protected computer and intentionally causing damage and for committing aggravated identity theft. The court also ordered Scheuer to forfeit his computer, which was used to commit the offenses, and to pay $687,776.50 in restitution to the victims of his crimes. Scheuer pleaded guilty on January 29, 2025.
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A federal grand jury has charged an Iranian national for his role as the creator and operator of Nemesis Market, a dark web marketplace designed to enable users to buy and sell illegal drugs and other illicit goods and criminal cyber-services.
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A federal grand jury has charged Behrouz Parsarad, an Iranian national, for his role as the founder and operator of Nemesis Market, a dark web marketplace for illegal drugs and criminal cyber-services, such as stolen financial information, fraudulent identification documents, counterfeit currencies, and computer malware.
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HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – A federal grand jury in Huntsville has charged Kareem Mustafa Ahmad, 21, of Alexandria, Egypt, with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, announced U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona and Federal Bureau Investigation Acting Special Agent in Charge Chris DiMenna. According to court documents, Mustafa used the persona “Noir” on Telegram and operated the channel “Noir’s Luxury Refunds,” as well as other fraud-based Telegram channels. Noir’s Luxury Refunds was dedicated to refund fraud, a type of fraud where a purchaser claims to return an item, receives a refund, but keeps the p
ALBANY, NEW YORK – The U.S. Secret Service in the Northern District of New York has seized a second web domain used in a recent cryptocurrency confidence crime known as “pig butchering.” United States Attorney John A. Sarcone III, and Jeffrey Burr, Special Agent in Charge of the Buffalo Field Office of the United States Secret Service (USSS), made the announcement. In pig butchering schemes, scammers encounter victims, often but not always elderly victims, through a variety of ways, including on dating applications and social media websites, and even random text messages masquerading as a wron
The Department of Justice announced today that, pursuant to a court-ordered default judgment and final order of forfeiture entered today, it has secured the forfeiture of approximately $5,315,746.29 of proceeds of a business email compromise (BEC) scheme and property involved in the subsequent laundering of the proceeds. The judgment is the result of a civil forfeiture complaint filed by the United States in June 2024 seeking the forfeiture of the funds.
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DETROIT – Former University of Michigan Co-Offensive Coordinator Matthew Weiss—age 42, of Ann Arbor—was charged today in a 24-count indictment alleging 14 counts of unauthorized access to computers and 10 counts of aggravated identity theft, Acting United States Attorney Julie A. Beck announced. Beck was joined in the announcement by Cheyvoryea Gibson, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Detroit Field Office (Michigan) According to the indictment, between approximately 2015 and January 2023, Weiss gained unauthorized access to student athlete databases of more than 100 colleges and universities that
Official actionArrestIndictmentExtradition
Seattle – A Nigerian citizen who was arrested and extradited from the U.K. on an indictment in the Western District of Washington was arraigned today in U.S. District Court in Seattle, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller.
Official actionSanctionTakedownDisruption
The Justice Department announced today a coordinated action with Germany and Finland to disrupt and take down the online infrastructure used to operate Garantex, a cryptocurrency exchange that allegedly facilitated money laundering by transnational criminal organizations (including terrorist organizations) and sanctions violations. Since April 2019, Garantex has processed at least $96 billion in cryptocurrency transactions.
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Ocala, Florida – Acting United States Attorney Sara C. Sweeney announces the return of an indictment charging Jiaan Cao (33, China) with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. If convicted, Cao faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison. Cao is currently detained pending the resolution of this case.
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The Justice Department, FBI, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, and Departments of State and the Treasury announced today their coordinated efforts to disrupt and deter the malicious cyber activities of 12 Chinese nationals, including two officers of the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) Ministry of Public Security (MPS), employees of an ostensibly private PRC company, Anxun Information Technology Co. Ltd. (安洵信息技术有限公司) also known as “i-Soon,” and members of Advanced Persistent Threat 27 (APT27).
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A federal judge in Washington, D.C., today, unsealed two separate indictments that allege Chinese nationals Yin Kecheng , 38, (尹 可成) a/k/a “YKC” (“YIN”) and Zhou Shuai , 45, ( 周帅) a/k/a “Coldface” (“ZHOU”) violated various federal statutes by participating in years-long, sophisticated computer hacking conspiracies that successfully targeted a wide variety of U.S.-based victims from 2011 to the present-day. According to the documents unsealed today, the defendants targeted a multitude of U.S. victim companies, municipalities, and organizations for profit, causing millions of dollars’ worth of d
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Matthew Podolsky, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York; Sue J. Bai, the Head of the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Security Division; and Leslie R. Backschies, the Acting Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced the unsealing of a two-count criminal Indictment charging 10 defendants with a years-long hacking scheme committed through the Chinese company i-Soon.
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The Justice Department today unsealed criminal charges against Roman Berezhnoy, 33, and Egor Nikolaevich Glebov, 39, both Russian nationals, who allegedly operated a cybercrime group using the Phobos ransomware that victimized more than 1,000 public and private entities in the United States and around the world and received over $16 million in ransom payments. Berezhnoy and Glebov were arrested this week as part of a coordinated international disruption of their organization, which includes additional arrests and the technical disruption of the group’s computer infrastructure.
Eric Council, 25, of Athens, Alabama, entered a guilty plea today to one count of conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft in United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Council was arrested on October 17, 2024, in connection with his role in a conspiracy to hack into the X account of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and publish fraudulent posts in the name of the then-SEC Chairman.
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An indictment was unsealed today in federal court in Brooklyn charging Andean Medjedovic with wire fraud, computer hacking and attempted extortion for stealing approximately $65 million in cryptocurrency from the KyberSwap and Indexed Finance decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols, which are sophisticated financial platforms residing on cryptocurrency blockchains.
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A five-count criminal indictment was unsealed today in federal court in New York charging a Canadian man with exploiting vulnerabilities in two decentralized finance protocols to fraudulently obtain about $65 million from the protocols’ investors.
Official actionTakedownDisruption
The Justice Department today announced its participation in a multinational operation involving actions in the United States, Romania, Australia, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, and Greece to disrupt and take down the infrastructure of the online cybercrime marketplaces known as Cracked and Nulled. The operation was announced in conjunction with Operation Talent, a multinational law enforcement operation supported by Europol to investigate Cracked and Nulled.
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The Justice Department today announced the coordinated seizure of 39 domains and their associated servers in an international disruption of a Pakistan-based network of online marketplaces selling hacking and fraud-enabling tools operated by a group known as Saim Raza (also known as HeartSender). The seizures were conducted in coordination with the Dutch National Police.
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A total of 39 domains and their associated servers have been seized in a coordinated effort involving an international disruption of a Pakistan-based network of online marketplaces selling hacking and fraud-enabling tools
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Roman Vitalyevich Ostapenko, Alexander Evgenievich Oleynik, and Anton Vyachlavovich Tarasov have been indicted by a federal grand jury for their involvement in operating the cryptocurrency mixing services Blender.io and Sinbad.io.
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Newark, N.J. – A citizen and resident of Brazil was charged with making extortionate threats to publicize data stolen from the Brazilian subsidiary of a New Jersey company.
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Tampa, FL - A Romanian man was sentenced today for his role in the NetWalker ransomware attacks to 20 years in prison and ordered to forfeit $21,500,000 and his interests in an Indonesian limited liability company and associated luxury resort property under construction in Bali, Indonesia — a business venture he financed with proceeds from the attacks. He was also ordered to pay $14,991,580.01 in restitution.
Seattle – Quick work by the U.S. Secret Service and the Asset Forfeiture Unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office means victims of a business email compromise scheme may be made whole after losing millions of dollars through fraud, announced U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman.
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Tampa, Florida – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces the indictment and arrest of Liridon Masurica (33, Gjilan, Kosovo), a Kosovo national also known as “@blackdb.” Masurica was taken into custody today by authorities in Kosovo. U.S. authorities are pursuing Masurica’s extradition to the United States, pursuant to the extradition treaty between the United States and the Republic of Kosovo.
Official actionArrestIndictmentSeizureTakedown
The Justice Department today announced the seizure of Rydox, an illicit website and marketplace dedicated to selling stolen personal information, access devices, and other tools for carrying out cybercrime and fraud, and the arrest of Rydox administrators and Kosovo nationals Ardit Kutleshi, 26, and Jetmir Kutleshi, 28. Both defendants were arrested earlier today in Kosovo by Kosovo law enforcement pursuant to a U.S. request for extradition. They are currently awaiting extradition to the United States to face an indictment unsealed today in the Western District of Pennsylvania. A third adminis
Official actionIndictmentSeizure
ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The Justice Department today announced the court-authorized seizure of 27 internet domains associated with some of the world’s leading DDoS-for-hire services, as well as criminal charges against two defendants who allegedly oversaw computer attack platforms commonly called “booter” services.
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A federal court in Hammond, Indiana, unsealed an indictment today charging Guan Tianfeng, a citizen of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) for his involvement in a conspiracy to hack indiscriminately into firewall devices worldwide in 2020. Guan and his co-conspirators worked at the offices of Sichuan Silence Information Technology Co. Ltd. to discover and exploit a previously-unknown vulnerability (an “0-day” vulnerability) in certain firewalls sold by U.K.-based Sophos Ltd. (Sophos) – an information technology company that develops and markets cybersecurity products. The malware that exploi
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NASHVILLE — The United States yesterday unsealed an indictment in Nashville, Tennessee, charging nine members of a multi-state money laundering organization responsible for laundering millions of dollars derived from internet fraud, including business email compromise schemes. According to court documents, Samson A. Omoniyi, 43, also known as Dada, Dadaman81, and Mr D; Misha L. Cooper, 50, also known as Misha Brookings, Misha Harris, and Misha L. Brookins; Robert A. Cooper, 66; Carlesha L. Perry, 36, also known as D Man; Whitney D. Bardley, 30; Lauren O. Guidry, 32, also known as Mommy; Caira
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A Kansas City, Mo., man has been indicted by a federal grand jury for hacking into the computer systems at an area nonprofit and a health club business.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office has seized approximately $3,507,191 in funds stolen through a business email compromise scam.
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Law enforcement today unsealed criminal charges against five defendants who allegedly targeted employees of companies nationwide with phishing text messages and then used the harvested employee credentials to log in and steal non-public company data and information and to hack into virtual currency accounts to steal millions of dollars in cryptocurrency.
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The Justice Department today announced the seizure of PopeyeTools, an illicit website and marketplace dedicated to selling stolen credit cards and other tools for carrying out cybercrime and fraud, and unsealed criminal charges against three PopeyeTools administrators: Abdul Ghaffar, 25, of Pakistan; Abdul Sami, 35, of Pakistan; and Javed Mirza, 37, of Afghanistan.
Official actionIndictmentExtradition
Baltimore, Maryland – The Justice Department unsealed criminal charges today against Evgenii Ptitsyn, 42, a Russian national, for allegedly administering the sale, distribution, and operation of Phobos ransomware. Ptitsyn made his initial appearance in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland on November 4 after being extradited from South Korea. Phobos ransomware, through its affiliates, victimized more than 1,000 public and private entities in the United States and around the world, and extorted ransom payments worth more than $16 million dollars.
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An Ohio man was sentenced today to three years in prison for his operation of the darknet cryptocurrency “mixer” Helix, which processed transactions involving over $300 million worth of cryptocurrency from 2014 to 2017.
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MINNEAPOLIS – A northern Minnesota man has been indicted for an illegal “cryptojacking” scheme that caused significant financial losses, announced U.S. Attorney Andrew M. Luger. According to court documents, in February 2020, Joshua Paul Armbrust, 44, of Orr, Minnesota, resigned from his employment at Digital River, a Minnetonka-based global e-commerce and payment processing company. After leaving his job, between December 2020 and May 2021, Armbrust engaged in a cryptojacking scheme using accounts belonging to his former employer. Cryptojacking is a form of cybercrime where an unauthorized pa
Official actionSeizureDisruption
In a joint disruption effort with EuroJust and other partners, the DOJ unsealed a warrant issued in the Western District of Texas that authorized law enforcement to seize two domains used by RedLine and META for command and control, along with a complaint charging Maxim Rudometov, one of the developers and administrators of RedLine Infostealer.
WASHINGTON – Eric Council Jr., 25, of Athens, Alabama, was arrested this morning, in Athens, in connection with a January 2024 unauthorized takeover of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) X account, formerly known as Twitter, in which hackers posted a fake message from the SEC Chair that caused the value of bitcoin (BTC) to spike by $1,000. Council is expected to make an initial appearance today in the Northern District of Alabama.
An Alabama man was arrested by the FBI this morning in Athens, Alabama, on charges related to the January hack of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)’s social media account on X, formerly known as Twitter.
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A federal grand jury indictment unsealed today charges two Sudanese nationals with operating and controlling Anonymous Sudan, an online cybercriminal group responsible for tens of thousands of Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks against critical infrastructure, corporate networks, and government agencies in the United States and around the world.
Official actionSeizureDisruption
WASHINGTON – The Justice Department announced today the unsealing of a warrant authorizing the seizure of 41 internet domains used by Russian intelligence agents and their proxies to commit computer fraud and abuse in the United States. As an example of the Department’s commitment to public-private operational collaboration to disrupt such adversaries’ malicious cyber activities, as set forth in the National Cybersecurity Strategy, the Department acted concurrently with a Microsoft civil action to restrain 66 internet domains used by the same actors.
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The Justice Department today unsealed an indictment charging Russian national Aleksandr Viktorovich Ryzhenkov (Александр Викторович Рыженков) with using the BitPaymer ransomware variant to attack numerous victims in Texas and throughout the United States and hold their sensitive data for ransom.
Official actionIndictmentGuilty plea
SIOUX FALLS - United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced that Evan Frederick Light, age 21, of Lebanon, Indiana, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Veronica Duffy on September 30, 2024, and pleaded guilty to an Indictment that charged him with Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud and Conspiracy to Launder Monetary Instruments. The maximum penalty for each count upon conviction is 20 years in custody and/or a fine, three years of supervised release, and a $200 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Restitution may also be ordered. “These convictions reflect the relentless
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The Justice Department today announced the unsealing of an indictment charging Iranian nationals, and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) employees, Masoud Jalili, 36, also known as, مسعود جلیلی, Seyyed Ali Aghamiri, 34, also known as, سید علی آقامیری, and Yaser Balaghi, 37, also known as, یاسر بلاغی, with a conspiracy with others known and unknown to hack into accounts of current and former U.S. officials, members of the media, nongovernmental organizations, and individuals associated with U.S. political campaigns.
Official actionIndictmentSeizure
The Justice Department today announced actions coordinated with the Department of State, Department of the Treasury, and other federal and international law enforcement partners to combat Russian money laundering operations. The actions involved the unsealing of an indictment charging a Russian national with his involvement in operating multiple money laundering services that catered to cybercriminals, as well as the seizure of websites associated with three illicit cryptocurrency exchanges.
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MINNEAPOLIS – Two Nigerian nationals have been indicted for engaging in a fraudulent business email compromise scheme targeting several Minnesota-based health care companies, announced U.S. Attorney Andrew M. Luger. According to court documents, from October 2020 through 2024, Shodiya Babatunde, 43, and Jamui Ahmed, 31, devised and carried out a fraudulent business email compromise scheme that targeted and deceived employees of several Minnesota-based health care companies into making payments to bank accounts controlled by Babatunde, Ahmed, and their co-conspirators, rather than to the intend
Official actionIndictmentSeizure
The Justice Department announced actions coordinated with the Department of State, Department of the Treasury, and other federal and international law enforcement partners to combat Russian money laundering operations.
Official actionDisruption
Actors Unsuccessfully Sought to Prevent FBI’s Disruption of Botnet WASHINGTON – The Department of Justice today announced a court-authorized law enforcement operation that disrupted a botnet consisting of more than 200,000 consumer devices in the United States and worldwide. As described in court documents unsealed in the Western District of Pennsylvania, the botnet devices were infected by People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-sponsored hackers working for Integrity Technology Group, a company based in Beijing, China, and known to the private sector as “Flax Typhoon.” The botnet malware infe
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Song Wu, a Chinese national, has been indicted on charges for wire fraud and aggravated identity theft arising from his efforts to fraudulently obtain computer software and source code created by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (“NASA”), research universities, and private companies.
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Tampa, Florida – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces the return of an indictment charging Alex Khodyrev (35, Kazakhstan) and Pavel Kublitskii (37, Russia) with conspiracy to commit access device fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. If convicted on all counts, each faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison. The indictment also notifies Khodyrev and Kublitskii that the United States intends to forfeit Khodyrev’s 2023 Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG sport utility vehicle and Kublitskii’s 2020 Cadillac CT5 Sport sedan, both of which are alleged to be traceable to proceeds of
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Greenbelt , Maryland – In an indictment unsealed today, a grand jury in Maryland charged six computer hackers, all of whom were residents and nationals of the Russian Federation (Russia), with conspiracy to commit computer intrusion and wire fraud conspiracy. Five of the defendants were officers in Unit 29155 of the Russian Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU), a military intelligence agency of the General Staff of the Armed Forces. The sixth individual was a civilian already under indictment for conspiracy to commit computer intrusion and is now also charged with wire fraud conspiracy.
Official actionSeizureDisruption
PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero and the Justice Department today announced the ongoing seizure of 32 internet domains used in Russian government-directed foreign malign influence campaigns colloquially referred to as “Doppelganger,” in violation of U.S. money laundering and criminal trademark laws. As alleged in an unsealed FBI affidavit filed in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the Russian companies Social Design Agency (SDA), Structura National Technology (Structura), and ANO Dialog, operating under the direction and control of the Russian Presidential Adminis
NEWARK, N.J. – A Missouri man was arrested for an attempted data extortion campaign targeting his former employer, a U.S.-based industrial company with its headquarters located in Somerset County.
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CINCINNATI – A member of a Russian cybercrime group has been charged federally and appeared in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati today.
Official actionIndictmentExtradition
A Belarussian and Ukrainian national charged in the District of New Jersey and Eastern District of Virginia with leading international computer hacking and wire fraud schemes made his initial appearance in Newark, New Jersey, today after being extradited from Poland.
Official actionSeizureTakedown
Victims include businesses and organizations located in more than three dozen countries throughout the world. Among the victims in the northern district of Ohio were a trade union and a manufacturing company.
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NASHVILLE – Matthew Isaac Knoot, 38, of Nashville, Tennessee, was charged today for his efforts to generate revenue for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK or North Korea) illicit weapons program, which includes weapons of mass destruction (WMD). According to court documents, Knoot, participated in a scheme to obtain remote employment with American and British companies for foreign information technology (IT) workers, who were actually North Korean actors. Knoot assisted them in using a stolen identity to pose as a U.S. citizen, hosted company laptops at his residences, downloade
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Baltimore , Maryland – A federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging Amit Ahuja, age 40, of Westminster, Maryland, Kapil Gulati, age 50, of Glen Burnie, Maryland, and Priyanshu Walia, age 39, of Cleveland, Ohio, with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud in connection with a technical support scheme where victims were made to believe that their computers had been compromised by a virus, or were susceptible to hacking, and payments were needed for computer repair services or software.
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A grand jury in Kansas City, Kansas, returned an indictment on Wednesday charging North Korean national Rim Jong Hyok for his involvement in a conspiracy to hack and extort U.S. hospitals and other health care providers, launder the ransom proceeds, and then use these proceeds to fund additional computer intrusions into defense, technology, and government entities worldwide. Their ransomware attacks prevented victim health care providers from providing full and timely care to patients.
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“The disruption announced today is the result of a combined response with our international partners to a serious and unique threat,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Morris Pasqual.
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Greenbelt , Maryland – A federal grand jury in Maryland yesterday returned an indictment charging Amin Timovich Stigal [Амин Тимович Стигал], age 22, a Russian citizen, with conspiracy to hack into and destroy computer systems and data. In advance of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, targets included Ukrainian Government systems and data with no military or defense-related roles. Later targets included computer systems in countries that were providing support to Ukraine, including the United States. Stigal remains at large.
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NEWARK, N.J. – An indictment was unsealed today charging four Vietnamese nationals for their involvement in a series of computer intrusions that caused victim companies to collectively suffer more than $71 million in losses.
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Federal law enforcement seized cryptocurrency valued at $75 million at the time of the seizures, as well as cash and precious metals.
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Today, indictments were unsealed in federal court in Brooklyn charging four defendants for their participation in a series of fraudulent business email compromise schemes and related romance schemes that resulted in more than $50 million in losses by individuals and small businesses located within the Eastern District of New York and throughout the United States.
BOSTON – The United States filed a civil forfeiture action today to recover approximately $5,315,746 alleged to be proceeds of a business email compromise (BEC) scheme targeting a Massachusetts workers union, as well as property involved in money laundering.
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A court-authorized international law enforcement operation led by the U.S. Justice Department disrupted a botnet used to commit cyber attacks, large-scale fraud, child exploitation, harassment, bomb threats, and export violations.
Rui-Siang Lin, also known as Ruisiang Lin, 林睿庠, Pharoah, and faro, 23, of Taiwan, was arrested today in connection with his operation and ownership of “Incognito Market,” an online dark web narcotics marketplace that enabled its users to buy and sell illegal narcotics anonymously around the world. Lin was arrested at John F. Kennedy Airport on May 18, and will be presented in Manhattan federal court before U.S. Magistrate Judge Willis later today.
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NEWARK, N.J. – A Russian citizen has been indicted for working as an “access broker” and selling unauthorized access to computer networks, including a victim company in New Jersey.
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CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Chirag Tomar, 30, a citizen of the Republic of India, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan C. Rodriguez today and pleaded guilty to federal charges for stealing more than $37 million through a spoofing scheme of the Coinbase website, announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Tomar was arrested at the Atlanta airport on Dec. 20, 2023, upon entering the United States, and remains in federal custody. Jason Byrnes, Special Agent in Charge of the United States Secret Service, Charlotte Field Office, joins U.S. Attorney King in making
Official actionArrestSeizureDisruption
The Justice Department today announced a series of coordinated and court-authorized actions to disrupt the illicit revenue generation efforts of Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) information technology (IT) workers.
Official actionSeizureDisruption
The Justice Department unsealed charges, seizures, and other court-authorized actions to disrupt the illicit revenue generation efforts of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK or North Korea).
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An indictment was unsealed today charging Anton Peraire-Bueno, 24, of Boston, and James Pepaire-Bueno, 28, of New York, with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The charges in the indictment arise from an alleged novel scheme by the defendants to exploit the very integrity of the Ethereum blockchain to fraudulently obtain approximately $25 million worth of cryptocurrency within approximately 12 seconds. Anton Peraire-Bueno and James Peraire-Bueno were arrested yesterday in Boston and New York, respectively, and will be presented this afternoo
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Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York; Lisa Monaco, the Deputy Attorney General of the United States; and Thomas Fattorusso, the Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (“IRS-CI”), announced today the unsealing of an Indictment charging ANTON PERAIRE-BUENO and JAMES PERAIRE-BUENO with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that VINCENT CANNADY was arrested in connection with his scheme to extort a publicly traded information technology infrastructure services provider of up to $1.5 million by threatening to publicly disclose the company’s confidential and proprietary information.
A San Gabriel Valley man has been arrested on federal charges stemming from his alleged attempt to obtain additional funds from two elderly victims who had already paid thousands as part of an online phishing scheme that locked up their home computer.
Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and Robert Fuller, Special Agent in Charge of the New Haven Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, today announced that, through civil asset forfeiture actions, the government has recovered approximately $2,288,385 for victims of two separate business email compromise scams.
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Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York; Merrick B. Garland, the Attorney General of the United States; Christopher A. Wray, the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”); Matthew G. Olsen, the Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s National Security Division; and James Smith, the Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the FBI, announced today the unsealing of an Indictment charging Iranian nationals HOSSEIN HAROONI (حسین هارونی), REZA KAZEMIFAR (رضا کاظمی فر), KOMEIL BARADARAN SALMANI (کمیل برادران س
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An indictment was unsealed today in Manhattan federal court charging Iranian nationals Hossein Harooni (حسین هارونی), Reza Kazemifar (رضا کاظمی فر), Komeil Baradaran Salmani (کمیل برادران سلمانی), and Alireza Shafie Nasab (علیرضا شفیعی نسب) for their involvement in a cyber-enabled campaign to compromise U.S. government and private entities, including the U.S. Departments of Treasury and State, defense contractors, and two New York-based companies.
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PITTSBURGH, Pa. – United States Attorney Eric G. Olshan announced today the seizure of four domains used by the administrators and customers of a domain spoofing service. The domain seizures were authorized pursuant to seizure warrants issued in the Western District of Pennsylvania and were executed in coordination with the arrest of dozens of administrators and customers of the illicit service by foreign law enforcement agencies. According to court records, the United States obtained authorization to seize the domains as part of an investigation of the spoofing service operated through the La
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Note: Click here to view the wanted poster for Alexander Lefterov PITTSBURGH, Pa. - A Moldovan national has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh for computer fraud crimes, aggravated identity theft, and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, United States Attorney Eric G. Olshan announced today. The nine-count Indictment names Alexander Lefterov, a/k/a “Alipako,” a/k/a “Uptime,” a/k/a “Alipatime,” age 37, of Chisinau, Moldova, as the sole defendant. According to the Indictment, from March 2021 through November 2021, Lefterov and his co-conspirators operated and controlled a botnet com
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“As alleged, by hijacking cloud providers’ computing power, Parks stole millions worth of powerful computing resources to acquire cryptocurrency,” stated United States Attorney Peace. “This Office will continue to prioritize prosecuting criminal actors who use new, sophisticated technology to engage in the old scheme of fraud and deceit.”
Federal authorities have arrested a San Fernando Valley man on federal charges alleging a scheme to market and sell malware that gave the malware purchasers control over victim computers and enabled them to access victims’ private communications, their login credentials, and other personal information, the Justice Department announced today.
Official actionIndictmentGuilty pleaExtradition
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Oludayo Kolawole John Adeagbo, 45, a Nigerian national previously extradited from the United Kingdom, has pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy for his role in a multimillion-dollar business email compromise (BEC) scheme, announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina (WDNC), and Alamdar S. Hamdani, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas (SDTX). Adeagbo, aka John Edwards and John Dayo, arrived in the United States in August 2022 after he was extradited from the United Kingdom to face criminal charges brought against him by federal
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“These allegations pull back the curtain on China’s vast illegal hacking operation that targeted sensitive data from U.S. elected and government officials, journalists and academics; valuable information from American companies; and political dissidents in America and abroad. Their sinister scheme victimized thousands of people and entities across the world, and lasted for well over a decade,” stated U.S. Attorney Peace. “America’s sovereignty extends to its cyberspace. Today’s charges demonstrate my Office’s commitment to upholding and protecting that jurisdiction, and to putting an end to ma
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U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross announced today that a federal grand jury returned a nine-count indictment charging Max Yang Chen, 29, of San Jose, CA, with three counts of obtaining information from a protected computer, three counts of cyberstalking, and three counts of aggravated identity theft. The charges carry a maximum penalty of 36 years in prison.
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The Justice Department unsealed an indictment charging an Iranian national with involvement in a cyber-enabled campaign to compromise U.S. governmental and private entities, including the U.S. Departments of the Treasury and State, defense contractors, and two New York-based companies. According to court documents, from at least in or about 2016 through in or about April 2021, Alireza Shafie Nasab, 39, of Iran, and other co-conspirators were members of a hacking organization that participated in a coordinated multi-year campaign to conduct and attempt to conduct computer intrusions. These intr
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Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York; Matthew G. Olsen, the Assistant Attorney General for National Security; Bryan Vorndran, the Assistant Director of the Cyber Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”); and James Smith, the Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the FBI, announced today the unsealing of an Indictment charging Iranian citizen and resident ALIREZA SHAFIE NASAB for his involvement in a cyber-enabled campaign to compromise U.S. government and private entities, including the U.S. Departments of the T
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Tampa, Florida – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces the unsealing of an indictment charging Timothy Burke (45, Tampa) with conspiracy, unauthorized access of protected computers, and violations of the Wiretap Act. If convicted on all counts, Burke faces a maximum penalty of 62 years in federal prison. The indictment also notifies Burke that the United States is seeking forfeiture of a website domain and 20 computer-related devices used to commit the charged criminal conduct, and $1,500, the proceeds of certain charged criminal conduct.
Official actionSeizureGuilty plea
MINNEAPOLIS – An Oklahoma man has pleaded guilty to wire fraud after hacking a government auction website and purchasing vehicles and jewelry for $1, announced United States Attorney Andrew M. Luger. According to court documents, between February 25 and March 6, 2019, Evan James Coker, 41, participated in a scheme to defraud General Service Administration’s (“GSA”) auctions. The GSA conducts online auctions through which it sells excess equipment, including surplus, seized, and forfeited assets, as well as equipment that is no longer needed by government agencies. The auctions are conducted on
Official actionDisruption
SAN FRANCISCO – The Department of Justice joined the United Kingdom and international law enforcement partners in London today to announce the disruption of the LockBit ransomware group, one of the most active ransomware groups in the world that has targeted over 2,000 victims, received more than $120 million in ransom payments, and made ransom demands totaling hundreds of millions of dollars.
Actor profile: LockBit
Official actionIndictmentExtradition
AUSTIN, Texas – A Ukrainian national was extradited to the United States from the Netherlands after being indicted for crimes related to fraud, money laundering and aggravated identity theft. According to court documents, Mark Sokolovsky, 28, conspired to operate the Raccoon Infostealer as a malware-as-a-service or “MaaS.” Individuals who deployed Raccoon Infostealer to steal data from victims leased access to the malware for approximately $200 per month, paid for by cryptocurrency. These individuals used various ruses, such as email phishing, to install the malware onto the computers of unsus
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A January 2024 court-authorized operation has neutralized a network of hundreds of small office/home office (SOHO) routers that GRU Military Unit 26165, also known as APT 28, Sofacy Group, Forest Blizzard, Pawn Storm, Fancy Bear, and Sednit, used to conceal and otherwise enable a variety of crimes.
Official actionIndictmentSeizureDisruption
BOSTON – The U.S. Attorney’s Office announced today that, as part of an international law enforcement effort, federal authorities in Boston seized internet domains that were used to sell computer malware used by cybercriminals to secretly access and steal data from victims’ computers. Federal authorities in Atlanta and Boston also unsealed indictments charging individuals in Malta and Nigeria, respectively, for their alleged involvement in selling the malware and supporting cybercriminals seeking to use the malware for malicious purposes.
Official actionIndictmentSeizureDisruption
As part of an international law enforcement effort, federal authorities seized internet domains that were used to sell computer malware used by cybercriminals to secretly access and steal data from victims’ computers. Federal authorities in Atlanta and Boston also unsealed indictments charging individuals in Malta and Nigeria, respectively, for their alleged involvement in selling the malware and supporting cybercriminals seeking to use the malware for malicious purposes.
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An indictment was unsealed on Tuesday charging a Belarusian and Cypriot national with money laundering conspiracy and operation of an unlicensed money services business.
Official actionDisruption
A December 2023 court-authorized operation has disrupted a botnet of hundreds of U.S.-based small office/home office (SOHO) routers hijacked by People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-sponsored hackers
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Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and James Smith, the Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced the unsealing of a six-count criminal Complaint charging NATHAN AUSTAD, a/k/a “Snoopy,” and KAMERIN STOKES, a/k/a “TheMFNPlug,” in connection with a scheme to hack user accounts at a fantasy sports and betting website (the “Betting Website”) and sell access to those accounts in order to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars from them.
A North Carolina man was arrested yesterday for allegedly stealing sensitive data from his prior employer, a D.C.-based company, and threatening to publish this data unless the company paid him $2.5 million. The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and FBI Special Agent in Charge David J. Scott of the Washington Field Office Criminal and Cyber Division.
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NEWARK, N.J. – Two indictments were unsealed in the District of New Jersey today charging two Russian nationals – Aleksey Timofeyevich Stroganov and Tim Stigal – with fraud and related offenses in connection with a series of computer intrusions.
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Tampa, Florida – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces the culmination of a transnational cybercrime investigation involving the xDedic Marketplace. According to court documents, the xDedic Marketplace was a website on the dark web that illegally sold login credentials (usernames and passwords) to servers located across the world and personally identifiable information—dates of birth and Social Security numbers—of U.S. residents. Once purchased, criminals used these servers to facilitate a wide range of illegal activity that included tax fraud and ransomware attacks. The xDedic ad
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The Justice Department announced today a disruption campaign against the Blackcat ransomware group — also known as ALPHV or Noberus — that has targeted the computer networks of more than 1,000 victims and caused harm around the world since its inception, including networks that support U.S. critical infrastructure.
Actor profile: ALPHV
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SAN FRANCISCO – A federal grand jury in San Francisco returned an indictment on Tuesday charging two individuals with a campaign to hack into computer networks in the United States, the United Kingdom, other North Atlantic Treaty Organization member countries and Ukraine, all on behalf of the Russian government.
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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – A federal grand jury indicted a Birmingham-area musician and a co-conspirator for their roles in a cyber-enabled check fraud scheme, announced U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona, U.S. Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Patrick Davis, U.S. Postal Inspection Service Inspector-in-Charge Scott D. Fix, Houston Division, and Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge Carlton L. Peeples. A nine-count indictment filed in U.S. District Court charges Daylin R. Banks , aka “30Skiii Only 1” and “88 DayDay,” 22, of Springville, Alabama, and Gabriel Samuel Odiot , aka “Motion
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BOSTON – An Ayer man was charged today and agreed to plead guilty in connection with a June 2023 cyberattack targeting the computer network of his former employer, an Essex County public high school.
Official actionIndictmentGuilty plea
CONCORD – A Derry man pleaded guilty in federal court in Concord to passport fraud and wire fraud in connection with hacking a telecommunications company, U.S. Attorney Jane E. Young and Acting U.S. Attorney Morris Pasqual announce. Andrew Mahn, 28, pleaded guilty to one count of passport fraud and one count of wire fraud. U.S. District Court Judge Landya B. McCafferty scheduled sentencing for March 7, 2024. Mahn was charged with passport fraud by indictment in the District of New Hampshire on February 15, 2023. Mahn was charged with hacking a telecommunications company by complaint in the Nor
Official actionArrestSentencingGuilty pleaExtradition
Earlier today, Idris Dayo Mustapha, a national of Nigeria and the United Kingdom, pleaded guilty to charges of computer intrusion, securities fraud, wire fraud and access device fraud based on his involvement in a ring of hackers and fraudsters who broke into Americans’ email and brokerage accounts in order to defraud and steal over $6 million from their victims. Mustapha was arrested in the United Kingdom in August 2021 and was extradited to the United States in August 2023. Today’s proceeding was held before United States District Judge Pamela K. Chen. When sentenced, the defendant faces up
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LONDON, Ky. - A Somerset, Ky., man, Jesse Kipf, 38, has been indicted by a federal grand jury sitting in London, on five counts of computer fraud, three counts of aggravated identity theft, and two counts of making false statements on applications in connection with federally insured financial institutions. The indictment alleges that Kipf intentionally accessed a computer without authorization and then obtained information from a protected computer for his own private gain and in furtherance of identity theft. According to the indictment, Kipf illegally accessed the following websites: State
Official actionSeizureDisruption
SAN FRANCISCO – The Justice Department announced today the seizure of nearly $9 million worth of Tether, a cryptocurrency pegged to the U.S. dollar. These seized funds were traced to cryptocurrency addresses allegedly associated with an organization that exploited over 70 victims through romance scams and cryptocurrency confidence scams, which are widely known as “pig butchering.”
Official actionArrestSentencing
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that AVIRAM AZARI was sentenced today to 80 months in prison for computer intrusion, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft in connection with his involvement in a massive computer-hacking campaign targeting companies and individuals in the U.S. and around the world. AZARI was arrested on these charges in September 2019 while traveling to the U. S. from abroad and has been detained since his arrest.
Official actionGuilty plea
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – A Russian and Moldovan national pled guilty to three counts of violating 18 U.S.C. § 1030(a)(5)(A) Fraud and Related Activity in Connection with Computers.
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An indictment in the Northern District of Oklahoma was unsealed today, charging ten men for conspiracy to commit wire fraud as a part of an international conspiracy to defraud online retailers through a variety of schemes collectively known as “refund fraud”.
Official actionIndictmentSeizure
Tampa, Florida – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces the unsealing of an indictment charging Matthew Frederic Bergwall (21, Coral Gables), also known as “MXB,” with conspiracy to commit computer and mail fraud, and substantive mail fraud. If convicted on all counts, Bergwall faces a maximum penalty of 45 years in federal prison. The indictment also notifies Bergwall that the United States is seeking an order of forfeiture in the amount of the proceeds of the charged criminal conduct. Bergwall will make his initial appearance today in Miami.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI have seized and filed a civil asset forfeiture complaint against $1,187.677.94 that was traceable to a business email compromise attack on the City of New Haven’s Board of Education earlier this year.
Official actionIndictmentExtradition
“The defendants are charged with conspiring to defraud victims out of more than $48 million by stealing sensitive personal information, including social security numbers, and using it to buy and then resell electronics and luxury goods,” stated United States Attorney Peace. “This case shows that if criminals organize to target U.S. victims in their international crimes, our Office will unite with the international community to catch and bring them to justice.”
Orlando, Florida – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces that the United States has civilly forfeited $2,462,000 in proceeds obtained from a wire fraud scheme that involved the takeover of a business email account. The forfeited funds are being returned to the fraud victim.
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Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and John Gay, the Inspector General of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (the “Port Authority”), announced the unsealing of an Indictment charging ALEKSANDR DEREBENETC, a/k/a “Sasha Novgorod,” and KIRILL SHIPULIN, a/k/a “Kirill Russia,” with two counts of conspiracy to commit computer intrusions.
Official actionSeizureSanctionDisruption
On Oct. 17, pursuant to a court order issued in the Eastern District of Missouri, the United States seized 17 website domains used by North Korean information technology (IT) workers in a scheme to defraud U.S. and foreign businesses, evade sanctions and fund the development of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) government’s weapons program.
Official actionArrestIndictmentExtradition
Tampa, Florida – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg, along with Special Agent in Charge Kareem Carter of the IRS - Criminal Investigation Washington DC Field Office, and Special Agent in Charge David Walker of the FBI - Tampa Division, announces today the extradition and removal from the United Kingdom of Sandu Diaconu (31, Moldova) for crimes related to his administration of the E-Root Marketplace, a website that operated for years and was used to sell access to compromised computers worldwide, including servers belonging to companies and individuals in the United States. Diaconu had hi
Official actionArrestGuilty plea
MISSOULA — An Indian national today admitted to his role in stealing $150,000 from an elderly Montana woman through a computer-hacking scheme, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said. Sukhdev Vaid, 24, of India, pleaded guilty to wire fraud. Vaid faces a maximum of 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. U.S. District Judge Donald W. Molloy presided. The court will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. Sentencing was set for Feb. 14, 2024. Vaid was detained pending further proceedings. The government a
Official actionIndictmentSeizureGuilty plea
Tampa, Florida – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces that Dariy Pankov (28, Vasil’yevskoye, Russia) has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit access device fraud and computer fraud. Pankov faces a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison. Pursuant to the plea agreement, Pankov has agreed to forfeit $358,437, the proceeds of the charged criminal conduct. A sentencing date has not yet been set.
Official actionIndictment
NASHVILLE – Three indictments were unsealed yesterday charging multiple Russian cybercrime actors involved in the Conti ransomware and Trickbot malware schemes. Conti was a ransomware variant used to attack more than 900 victims worldwide, including victims in the Middle District of Tennessee, approximately 47 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and approximately 31 foreign countries. According to the FBI, in 2021, Conti ransomware was used to attack more critical infrastructure victims than any other ransomware variant. According to court documents and public reporting, Trickbot, w
Actor profile: Conti
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Three indictments in three different federal jurisdictions have been unsealed charging multiple Russian cybercrime actors involved in the Trickbot malware and Conti ransomware schemes.
Actor profile: Conti
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Alexander Pakhtusov is charged in United States District Court for the District of Columbia in case number 19-cr-310. He sold over 14,000 sets of login credentials. The people who purchased those login credentials used them to steal money from victim accounts.
Official actionTakedownDisruption
The Justice Department today announced a multinational operation involving actions in the United States, France, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Romania, and Latvia to disrupt the botnet and malware known as Qakbot and take down its infrastructure.
BOSTON – The United States Attorney’s Office filed a civil forfeiture action to recover cryptocurrency alleged to be proceeds of a business email compromise (BEC) scheme targeting a Massachusetts resident. The government seeks to forfeit 18.836 bitcoin (BTC) seized from an account located at Binance.US, a cryptocurrency exchange and custodian. 18.836 BTC has a current estimated value of approximately $500,000.
Official actionIndictmentSanction
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Merrick B. Garland, the Attorney General of the United States, Christopher A. Wray, the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), Nicole M. Argentieri, the Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Matthew G. Olsen, the Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, James Smith, the Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the FBI, and Bryant Jackson, the Special Agent in Charge of the Cincinnati Field O
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An indictment was unsealed yesterday in Tampa, Florida, charging a Polish national with computer fraud conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy, and international money laundering in connection with the provision of “bulletproof” webhosting services that facilitated the operation of ransomware attacks and the subsequent laundering of the illicit proceeds.
Official actionArrestIndictment
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Chad Plantz, the Special Agent in Charge of the San Diego Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”), and Tyler Hatcher, the Special Agent in Charge of the Los Angeles Field Office of the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation (“IRS-CI”), announced the unsealing of an Indictment charging SHAKEEB AHMED with wire fraud and money laundering in connection with his attack on a decentralized cryptocurrency exchange (the “Crypto Exchange”).
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Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Christie M. Curtis, the Acting Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced the unsealing of a four-count Indictment charging SOUFIANE OULAHYANE, a/k/a “Soufiane Oulahya,” for a scheme to impersonate the OpenSea marketplace in order to obtain unauthorized access to cryptocurrency and non-fungible tokens (“NFTs”).
Official actionIndictmentExtradition
WASHINGTON –Milomir Desnica has been extradited from Austria to face charges of running a criminal darknet narcotics marketplace. The charges, unsealed on May 25, 2023, were announced today by United States Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Acting Special Agent in Charge Sarah Linden, of the FBI Washington Field Office’s Criminal and Cyber Division. Desnica, 33, of Smederevska Palanka, Serbia, was indicted on July 26, 2022, by a grand jury in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on charges of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of metham
Official actionArrestIndictmentExtradition
Tampa, Florida – United States Attorney Roger Handberg announces the successful extraditions of Akinola Taylor of the United Kingdom, Olayemi Adafin of the United Kingdom, Olakunle Oyebanjo of the United Kingdom, and Kazeem Olanrewaju Runsewe of Sweden. These individuals have been charged in the Middle District of Florida with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, filing false claims with the United States, theft of public money or property, and aggravated identity theft. Taylor, Adafin, and Runsewe were arrested on November 30, 2022, and Oyebanjo was arrested on December 2, 2022. Taylor, Adafin, a
Official actionArrestIndictment
The Justice Department today announced charges against a Russian national for his involvement in deploying numerous LockBit ransomware and other cyberattacks against victim computer systems in the United States, Asia, Europe, and Africa.
Actor profile: LockBit
Official actionIndictment
NEWARK, N.J. – The Justice Department today announced charges against a Russian national for his involvement in deploying numerous LockBit ransomware and other cyberattacks against victim computer systems in the United States, Asia, Europe, and Africa.
Actor profile: LockBit
Official actionIndictment
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Kenneth A. Polite, Jr., the Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division, Ismail J. Ramsey, the United States Attorney for the Northern District of California, James C. Lee, the Chief of the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (“IRS-CI”), Michael J. Driscoll, the Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), William Mancino, the Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service’s Criminal Investigative Divisi
BOSTON – The United States Attorney’s Office filed a civil forfeiture action to recover cryptocurrency alleged to be proceeds of a business email compromise (BEC) fraud scheme targeting a Massachusetts business.
Official actionIndictment
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Michael J. Driscoll, the Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced the unsealing of a six-count criminal Complaint charging JOSEPH GARRISON in connection with a scheme to hack user accounts at a fantasy sports and betting website (the “Betting Website”) and sell access to those accounts in order to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars from them.
Official actionIndictment
NEWARK, N.J. – The Justice Department today unsealed two indictments charging a Russian national and resident with using three different ransomware variants to attack numerous victims throughout the United States, including law enforcement agencies in New Jersey and Washington, D.C., as well as victims in healthcare and other sectors nationwide.
Official actionIndictment
WASHINGTON – An indictment was unsealed today in the District of Columbia charging a Russian national with participating in a global ransomware campaign which deployed ransomware variants against victims in the District of Columbia, the United States, and around the world. Mikhail Pavlovich Matveev, alleged to use the online monikers Wazawaka, m1x, Broriscelcin, and Uhodiransomwar, 30, of Kaliningrad, Russia, is charged with intentional damage to a protected computer and threats relating to a protected computer. The charges were announced by U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Matthew M
Official actionDisruption
“Russia used sophisticated malware to steal sensitive information from our allies, laundering it through a network of infected computers in the United States in a cynical attempt to conceal their crimes. Meeting the challenge of cyberespionage requires creativity and a willingness to use all lawful means to protect our nation and our allies,” stated United States Attorney Peace. “The court-authorized remote search and remediation announced today demonstrates my Office and our partners’ commitment to using all of the tools at our disposal to protect the American people.”
Official actionDisruption
he Justice Department today announced the completion of a court-authorized operation, code-named MEDUSA, to disrupt a global peer-to-peer network of computers compromised by sophisticated malware, called “Snake”, that the U.S. Government attributes to a unit within Center 16 of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB). For nearly 20 years, this unit, referred to in court documents as “Turla,” has used versions of the Snake malware to steal sensitive documents from hundreds of computer systems in at least 50 countries, which have belonged to North Atlantic Treaty Organizatio
Actor profile: Medusa
As part of an ongoing initiative targeting computer attack “booter” services, the Justice Department today announced the court-authorized seizure of 13 internet domains associated with these DDoS-for-hire services. The seizures this week are the third wave of U.S. law enforcement actions against prominent booter services.
Official actionIndictmentTakedownDisruption
“Today is a bad day for criminals who relied on the defendant’s platform as the gold standard to verify that the credit cards they stole from hard working individuals living in the Eastern District of New York and across the world had value,” stated United States Attorney Peace. “Today’s indictment and global takedown of the Try2Check website demonstrates that the Office, together with our partners, will disrupt cybercrime operations no matter where they are based.”
Official actionArrestSeizure
The Department of Justice, and its Joint Criminal Opioid and Darknet Enforcement (JCODE) team and international partners, announced the results of Operation SpecTor, which included 288 arrests
Official actionSeizureTakedownDisruption
DETROIT - On April 25th, the FBI’s Detroit Field Office, with assistance from the Virtual Currency Response Team (VCRT), the Cyber Police Department and Main Investigation Departments of the National Police of Ukraine, and the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine conducted coordinated, court authorized activity involving nine virtual currency exchange services. Domain names offered by organizations which were engaged in cryptocurrency conversions and provided assistance to cyber-criminals were seized, and related servers were shut down. U.S. based servers used in the scheme were taken offlin
Official actionSeizureSentencing
An Ohio man was sentenced today to four years and three months in prison for stealing over 712 bitcoin that were the proceeds of the darknet bitcoin mixer Helix and subject to forfeiture in a then-pending criminal case.
Official actionSeizureSentencing
WASHINGTON – An Ohio man was sentenced today to 51 months in prison for stealing over 712 bitcoin that were the proceeds of the darknet bitcoin mixer Helix and subject to forfeiture in a then-pending criminal case. The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, FBI Special Agent in Charge Wayne A. Jacobs of the Washington Field Office’s Criminal and Cyber Division, and IRS Special Agent in Charge Darrell J. Waldon of the IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI). In addition to the prison
Official actionIndictment
Two federal indictments were unsealed today in the District of Columbia charging a North Korean Foreign Trade Bank (FTB) representative for his role in separate money laundering conspiracies designed to generate revenue for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea through the use of cryptocurrency.
Official actionIndictment
WASHINGTON – Two federal indictments, unsealed today in the District of Columbia, charge a North Korean Foreign Trade Bank (“FTB”) representative for his role in money laundering conspiracies designed to generate revenue for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, through the use of cryptocurrency. A third indictment charges one of the co-conspirators in a separate scheme. The indictments were announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division Kenneth A. Polite, Jr., and Special Agent in Charge Robert W. “Wes” Wheeler, Jr. of the FBI’s Chicago
Official actionSeizureSentencing
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that JAMES ZHONG was sentenced today to one year and one day in prison for committing wire fraud in September 2012 when he unlawfully obtained approximaely 50,000 Bitcoin from the Silk Road dark web internet marketplace. United States District Judge Paul G. Gardephe imposed today’s sentence. As part of the ZHONG investigation, the Government has obtained final orders of forfeiture for, among other items, 51,680.32473733 Bitcoin, valued at over $3.4 billion at the time of seizure and over $1.57 billion
Official actionDisruption
The Justice Department announced today a coordinated international operation against Genesis Market, a criminal online marketplace that advertised and sold packages of account access credentials – such as usernames and passwords for email, bank accounts, and social media – that had been stolen from malware-infected computers around the world.
Official actionIndictmentSanction
“As alleged, for more than a decade, the defendant has been acquiring sensitive electronics from U.S. manufacturers on behalf of the Russian government, in defiance of U.S. export controls,” stated United States Attorney Peace. “Our Office will not relent in its efforts to stop those who unlawfully procure U.S. technology for Russia or any other sanctioned countries, entities or individuals.”
Official actionDisruption
U.S. Attorney Gregory J. Haanstad for the Eastern District of Wisconsin joined the Attorney General and other Justice Department officials in announcing a coordinated international operation that resulted in the dismantlement of Genesis Market, a criminal marketplace accessible on the dark web and clear web that advertised and sold packages of account access credentials – such as usernames and passwords for email, bank accounts, and social media – that had been stolen from malware-infected computers around the world. “Working across 45 of our FBI Field Offices and alongside our international p
Official actionIndictment
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – On March 29, 2023, a grand jury charged Brian Luis Valentín-Ramos with five counts related to the possession, distribution and sale of child pornography; conspiring to illegally obtain information from protected computers; and cyberstalking, all in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1030(a)(2), 2252(a)(4)(B), 2252A(a)(2), 2252A(a)(4)(B), and 2261A(2)(B), announced W. Stephen Muldrow, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico.
Official actionArrestIndictmentDisruption
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The founder of BreachForums made his initial appearance today in the Eastern District of Virginia on a criminal charge related to his alleged creation and administration of a major hacking forum and marketplace for cybercriminals that claimed to have more than 340,000 members as of last week. In parallel with his arrest on March 15, the FBI and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) have conducted a disruption operation that caused BreachForums to go offline.
Official actionIndictmentSentencing
Christian Akhatsegbe has been sentenced for wire and computer fraud conspiracy, access device fraud, and aggravated identity theft related to a multi-million-dollar cyber-fraud scheme perpetrated through email phishing, credential harvesting, and invoice fraud. His brother, Emmanuel Aiye Akhatsegbe, who is believed to be residing in Nigeria, was also charged in the scheme and remains a fugitive.
Official actionSeizureTakedown
Philadelphia – The Justice Department announced today a coordinated international takedown of ChipMixer, a darknet cryptocurrency “mixing” service responsible for laundering more than $3 billion worth of cryptocurrency, between 2017 and the present, in furtherance of among other activities, ransomware, darknet market, fraud, cryptocurrency heists and other hacking schemes. The operation involved U.S. federal law enforcement’s court-authorized seizure of two domains that directed users to the ChipMixer service and one Github account, as well as the German Federal Criminal Police’s (the Bundeskr
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A criminal complaint was unsealed today in federal court in Brooklyn charging Sagar Steven Singh and Nicholas Ceraolo with wire fraud and conspiracy to commit computer intrusions. The charges stem from Singh’s and Ceraolo’s efforts to extort victims by threatening to release their personal information online.
As part of an international law enforcement effort, federal authorities in Los Angeles this week seized an internet domain that was used to sell computer malware used by cybercriminals to take control of infected computers and steal a wide array of information.
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A Downtown Los Angeles man was charged today in a six-count federal grand jury indictment for allegedly defrauding female social media influencers, including by engaging in “SIM swapping” to hijack their Instagram accounts and obtain money from them and engage in sexually explicit video chats with him.
Official actionArrestIndictmentSeizureExtradition
Tampa, Florida – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces the arrest and extradition of Dariy Pankov a/k/a “dpxaker.” Pankov is charged with conspiracy, access device fraud, and computer fraud. If convicted on all counts, he faces a maximum penalty of 47 years in federal prison. The indictment also notifies Pankov that the United States intends to forfeit $358,437, which is alleged to be traceable to proceeds of the offenses.
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NEWARK, N.J. – A Russian national was charged in an indictment unsealed today in connection with a series of computer system intrusions that occurred in 2009 and 2010, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced. Vitaly Kovalev, aka “Bentley,” “Bergen,” and “Alex Konor,” is charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud and eight counts of bank fraud. According to the indictment: From as early as September 2010, Kovalev participated in a conspiracy to obtain unauthorized access to bank accounts held at United States-based financial institutions and transfer funds from those accounts to accounts
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PHOENIX, Ariz. – In December 2022, Solomon Ekunke Okpe and Johnson Uke Obogo, both Nigerian nationals, each pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire, bank, and mail fraud. Okpe and Obogo were involved in a variety of cyber-enabled fraud schemes between December 2011 and January 2017. Okpe also pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated identity theft. At the request of the United States, Okpe and Obogo were previously arrested in Malaysia and the United Kingdom, respectively, and were extradited to the District of Arizona in 2022. According to court documents, Okpe and his co-conspirators’ f
An international operation involving the National Crime Agency has taken down a ransomware service used by cyber criminals to attack and extort businesses across the globe.
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Seattle – A 21-year-old French citizen from Epinal, France, will appear tomorrow January 27, 2023, in U.S. District Court in Seattle on a nine-count indictment alleging conspiracy to commit computer fraud and abuse, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, four counts of wire fraud and three counts of aggravated identity theft, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown.
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The Justice Department announced today its months-long disruption campaign against the Hive ransomware group that has targeted more than 1,500 victims in over 80 countries around the world, including hospitals, school districts, financial firms, and critical infrastructure.
Actor profile: Hive
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BROOKLYN, NY – A complaint was unsealed this morning in federal court in Brooklyn charging Anatoly Legkodymov, a Russian national and senior executive of Bitzlato Ltd. (Bitzlato), a Hong Kong-registered cryptocurrency exchange, with conducting a money transmitting business that transported and transmitted illicit funds and that failed to meet U.S. regulatory safeguards, including anti-money laundering requirements.
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The founder and majority owner of a cryptocurrency exchange, Bitzlato Ltd. (Bitzlato), was arrested last night in Miami for his alleged operation of a money transmitting business that transported and transmitted illicit funds and that failed to meet U.S. regulatory safeguards, including anti-money laundering requirements.
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Defendant’s Brother Convicted of Running the Money Laundering Service Helix WASHINGTON – Gary James Harmon, 31, of Cleveland, Ohio, pleaded guilty today to perpetrating a scheme to steal cryptocurrency that was pending criminal forfeiture from Harmon’s brother, now-convicted money launderer and proprietor of Grams-Helix, Larry Dean Harmon. Specifically, Harmon pleaded guilty to wire fraud and obstruction of justice for unlawfully taking more than 712 bitcoin that had been seized by law enforcement and was subject to forfeiture in the pending criminal prosecution of Larry Harmon. The plea was a
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Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and John Gay, the Inspector General of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (the “Port Authority”), announced the unsealing of an Indictment charging DANIEL ABAYEV and PETER LEYMAN with two counts of conspiracy to commit computer intrusions. The Indictment charges that ABAYEV and LEYMAN hacked the electronic taxi dispatch system (the “Dispatch System”) at John F. Kennedy International Airport (“JFK”). Taxi drivers are required to wait in a holding lot at JFK before they are dispatched to pick up a fare.
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Two men – one from Wisconsin, the other from North Carolina – have been charged with participating in a “swatting” spree that, over a one-week span, gained access to a dozen Ring home security door cameras nationwide, placed bogus emergency phone calls designed to elicit an armed police response, then livestreamed the events on social media, sometimes while taunting responding police officers, the Justice Department announced today.
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The Justice Department today announced the court-authorized seizure of 48 internet domains associated with some of the world’s leading DDoS-for-hire services, as well as criminal charges against six defendants who allegedly oversaw computer attack platforms commonly called “booter” services.
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ANCHORAGE – The Justice Department today announced the court-authorized seizure of 48 internet domains associated with some of the world’s leading DDoS-for-hire services, as well as criminal charges against six defendants who allegedly oversaw computer attack platforms commonly called “booter” services. The FBI is now in the process of seizing the websites that allowed paying users to launch powerful distributed denial-of-service, or DDoS, attacks that flood targeted computers with information and prevent them from being able to access the internet. Booter services such as those named in this
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NEWARK, N.J. – A Nigerian man has been indicted for his role in computer hacking, wire fraud, and money laundering acts that defrauded companies of nearly $8 million after compromising companies’ business e-mail accounts, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced today. Oladeji Nathaniel Adelekan, aka “Djzle,” 28, of Lagos, Nigeria, was indicted by a federal grand jury on one count each of wire fraud conspiracy, wire fraud, conspiracy to access a protected computer in furtherance of fraud, unauthorized access of a computer with intent to defraud, and money laundering conspiracy. According to
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Michael J. Driscoll, Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced today the arrest of FOSTER COOLEY for charges in connection with a scheme to conduct cyber intrusions targeting a New York-based company that owns and operates hair salons in New York City, New Jersey, Colorado, and elsewhere, which resulted in the theft of over $400,000. COOLEY was arrested this morning and is expected to be presented today or tomorrow before a U.S. magistrate j
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia announced today the seizure of seven domain names used in a recent cryptocurrency confidence crime, known as “pig butchering.”
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A criminal complaint filed in the District of New Jersey was unsealed today charging a dual Russian and Canadian national for his alleged participation in the LockBit global ransomware campaign.
Actor profile: LockBit
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NEWARK, N.J. – A Russian and Canadian national has been charged with participating in the LockBit global ransomware campaign, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger, Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco, Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, and FBI-Newark Special Agent in Charge James E. Dennehy announced today. Mikhail Vasiliev, 33, of Bradford, Ontario, Canada, is charged by complaint unsealed today in Newark federal court with conspiring with others to intentionally damage protected computers and to transmit ransom demands in connection with doing so. He was arrested Nov. 9, 2022, is
Actor profile: LockBit
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Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Tyler Hatcher, the Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, Los Angeles Field Office (“IRS-CI”), announced today that JAMES ZHONG pled guilty to committing wire fraud in September 2012 when he unlawfully obtained over 50,000 Bitcoin from the Silk Road dark web internet marketplace. ZHONG pled guilty on Friday, November 4, 2022, before United States District Judge Paul G. Gardephe. On November 9, 2021, pursuant to a judicially authorized premises search warrant of ZHONG
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Orlando, Florida – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces the partial unsealing of an indictment charging Andi Jacques (41, Greenacres), Monika Shauntel Jenkins (33, Hollywood), Louis Noel Michel (28, Hollywood), Jeff Jordan Propht-Francisque (28, Pompano Beach), Dickenson Elan (39, Clearwater), Michael Jean Poix (31, West Palm Beach), Vladimyr Cherelus (33, Lauderdale Lakes), and Louisaint Jolteus (37, West Palm Beach) with Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) conspiracy.[1] Jacques, Poix, Jenkins, and Michel have also been charged with wire fraud conspiracy and a
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AUSTIN – A newly unsealed federal grand jury indictment charges Mark Sokolovsky, 26, a Ukrainian national, for his alleged role in an international cybercrime operation known as Raccoon Infostealer, which infected millions of computers around the world with malware. According to court documents, Sokolovsky, who is currently being held in the Netherlands pursuant to an extradition request by the United States, conspired to operate the Raccoon Infostealer as a malware-as-a-service or “MaaS.” Individuals who deployed Raccoon Infostealer to steal data from victims leased access to the malware for
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OKLAHOMA CITY – GORDON BELLAMY, JR. , 42, of Yukon, Oklahoma, pleaded guilty earlier this week to computer access fraud, announced U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester. On August 17, 2022, a federal grand jury returned a three-count indictment against Bellamy for alleged offenses while he was employed by Ally Aerospace Services as a contractor for AAR Corporation. The Indictment alleged that Bellamy worked as an aircraft maintenance mechanic at the Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City and that he supervised mechanic crews responsible for removing and reattaching panels as part of the mainten
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Tampa, FL – A Canadian man was sentenced to 20 years in prison and ordered to forfeit $21,500,000 today for his role in NetWalker ransomware attacks. The Court will order restitution at a later date.
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NEWARK, N.J. – An indictment was unsealed today charging three Iranian nationals with allegedly orchestrating a scheme to hack into the computer networks of multiple U.S. victims, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger and National Security Division Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen announced today. As alleged in the indictment, from October 2020 through the present, Mansour Ahmadi, aka “Mansur Ahmadi,” Ahmad Khatibi Aghda, aka “Ahmad Khatibi,” and Amir Hossein Nickaein Ravari, aka “Amir Hossein Nikaeen,” aka “Amir Hossein Nickaein,” aka “Amir Nikayin,” engaged in a scheme to gain unauthoriz
A website operating as a marketplace for over 5.85 million records of personally identifying information (PII) was seized today by Portuguese authorities and a federal criminal complaint charging the website’s alleged operator has been unsealed. Law enforcement in the U.S. has also seized four domains used by the website: “wt1shop.net,” “wt1store.cc,” “wt1store.com,” and “wt1store.net.”
Official actionIndictmentExtradition
PORTLAND, Ore.—An alleged cryptocurrency money launderer was extradited this week from the Netherlands to the United States to face charges in the District of Oregon. In August 2021, a federal grand jury in Portland charged Denis Mihaqlovic Dubnikov, 29, a Russian citizen, for his role in an international cryptocurrency money laundering conspiracy. According to the indictment, between at least August 2018 and August 2021, Dubnikov and his co-conspirators are alleged to have knowingly and intentionally laundered the proceeds of ransomware attacks on individuals and organizations throughout the
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Njuh Valentine Fombe, a/k/a “Valentine”, age 36, formerly of Beltsville, Maryland, had an initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt on August 8, 2022, after being a fugitive for almost three years until his arrest on August 6, 2022. A federal grand jury indicted Fombe on September 23, 2019, on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, aggravated identity theft. At his initial appearance, U.S. Magistrate Judge Timothy J. Sullivan ordered that Fombe remains detained pending trial.
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A former owner of a T-Mobile retail store in Eagle Rock has been found guilty by a jury of 14 federal criminal charges for his $25 million scheme to enrich himself by stealing T-Mobile employee credentials and illegally accessing the company’s internal computer systems to illicitly “unlock” and “unblock” cellphones, the Justice Department announced today.
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Montgomery, Alabama – A Florida man has been arrested for his role in a business email compromise scheme that impacted at least four businesses in four different states, including Alabama. Timothy Scott Marable, 50, from Lake Placid, Florida, was arrested last week after being indicted by a federal grand jury in Montgomery, Alabama on two counts of wire fraud. According to the indictment, a business email compromise scheme is a fraud scheme in which participants gain unauthorized access to a business email account through various means, such as hacking the account or obtaining login informatio
The Justice Department today announced a complaint filed in the District of Kansas to forfeit cryptocurrency paid as ransom to North Korean hackers or otherwise used to launder such ransom payments.
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Assistant U. S. Attorney Jonathan I. Shapiro (619) 546-8225 NEWS RELEASE SUMMARY – June 16, 2022 SAN DIEGO – The U.S. Department of Justice, together with law enforcement partners in Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, have dismantled the infrastructure of a Russian botnet known as RSOCKS which hacked millions of computers and other electronic devices around the world. A botnet is a group of hacked internet-connected devices that are controlled as a group without the owner’s knowledge and typically used for malicious purposes. Every device that is connected to the internet is assi
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Two California men were found guilty by a jury today of federal criminal charges for participating in an extensive, long-lasting, multimillion-dollar conspiracy – much of it committed by Nigerian nationals – that perpetrated a wide variety of frauds, including business email compromise (BEC) fraud, romance scams, elder fraud and fraud using malware.
WASHINGTON – The FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice announced today that they have seized the internet domain name weleakinfo.to and two related domain names, ipstress.in and ovh-booter.com, following an international investigation into websites allowing users to buy access to stolen personal information or to perform attacks on victim networks.
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I.T. Specialist Charged in Cyber Intrusion of Suburban Chicago Health Care Company
Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, announced today that $15,111,453.84 in illicit proceeds derived from an international digital fraud scheme has been transferred by Switzerland to the United States government pursuant to a Final Order of Forfeiture entered by United States District Judge Eric R. Komitee in the matter of United States v. Sergey Ovsyannikov, et al.
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A criminal complaint was unsealed today in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, charging Moises Luis Zagala Gonzalez (Zagala), also known as “Nosophoros,” “Aesculapius” and “Nebuchadnezzar,” a citizen of France and Venezuela who resides in Venezuela, with attempted computer intrusions and conspiracy to commit computer intrusions. The charges stem from Zagala’s use and sale of ransomware, as well as his extensive support of, and profit sharing arrangements with, the cybercriminals who used his ransomware programs.
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Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge Steven D. Merryday today sentenced Glib Oleksandr Ivanov-Tolpintsev (28, Chernivtsi, Ukraine) to four years in federal prison for conspiring to traffic in unauthorized access devices and computer passwords. As part of his sentence, the court also entered an order of forfeiture in the amount of $82,648, the proceeds of the charged criminal conduct.
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A criminal complaint was unsealed today in federal court in Brooklyn charging Idris Dayo Mustapha, a citizen of the United Kingdom, with computer intrusion, securities fraud, money laundering, bank fraud and wire fraud, among other offenses. The charged crimes stem from a variety of alleged criminal conduct between 2011 and 2018 in which Mustapha gained access to U.S.-based computers, including email servers and computers belonging to U.S. financial institutions, in order to steal money from online bank accounts and securities brokerage accounts. Mustapha was arrested in the United Kingdom in
Official actionArrestTakedown
An online forum that provided criminals with stolen personal data has been taken down in an international operation, which has also seen the NCA arrest a suspected site controller.
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The Department of Justice today announced the seizure of the RaidForums website, a popular marketplace for cybercriminals to buy and sell hacked data, and unsealed criminal charges against RaidForums’ founder and chief administrator, Diogo Santos Coelho, 21, of Portugal. Coelho was arrested in the United Kingdom on Jan. 31, at the United States’ request and remains in custody pending the resolution of his extradition proceedings.
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The U.S. Department of Justice today announced the seizure of the RaidForums website, a popular marketplace for cybercriminals to buy and sell hacked data, and unsealed criminal charges against RaidForums’ founder and chief administrator, Diogo Santos Coelho, 21, of Portugal. Coelho was arrested in the United Kingdom on January 31, at the United States’ request, and remains in custody pending the resolution of his extradition proceedings.
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PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams announced that Frances Marie Eddings, 68, of Orlando, FL, and Jude Denis, 54, of Wyncote, PA, were convicted after trial in the Allentown Federal Courthouse of accessing a computer system without authorization for pecuniary gain from a non-profit charity organization. In September 2019, the defendants were charged with one count of conspiracy, three counts of unauthorized access to a computer, and aiding and abetting, stemming from their scheme to receive a payment of money from the Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF), Denis’ forme
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Operation Copied and Removed Malware Known as “Cyclops Blink” from the Botnet’s Command-And-Control Devices, Disrupting the GRU’s Control Over Thousands of Infected Devices Worldwide. Victims Must Take Additional Steps to Remediate the Vulnerability and Prevent Malicious Actors From Further Exploiting Unpatched Devices. The Justice Department today announced a court-authorized operation, conducted in March 2022, to disrupt a two-tiered global botnet of thousands of infected network hardware devices under the control of a threat actor known to security researchers as Sandworm, which the U.S. go
SAN FRANCISCO – The Justice Department announced today the seizure of Hydra Market (Hydra), the world’s largest and longest-running darknet market. In 2021, Hydra accounted for an estimated 80% of all darknet market-related cryptocurrency transactions, and since 2015, the marketplace has received approximately $5.2 billion in cryptocurrency. The seizure of the Hydra servers and cryptocurrency wallets was made this morning in Germany by the German Federal Criminal Police (the Bundeskriminalamt), in coordination with U.S. law enforcement. “The Justice Department will be relentless in our efforts
In one of the largest cryptocurrency forfeiture actions ever filed by the United States, federal prosecutors in the Southern District of Florida successfully forfeited approximately $34 million worth of cryptocurrency tied to illegal Dark Web activity.
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WASHINGTON - The Department of Justice unsealed two indictments today charging four defendants, all Russian nationals who worked for the Russian government, with attempting, supporting and conducting computer intrusions that together, in two separate conspiracies, targeted the global energy sector between 2012 and 2018. In total, these hacking campaigns targeted thousands of computers, at hundreds of companies and organizations, in approximately 135 countries.
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TYLER, Texas –A 23-year-old Russian man has been indicted in the Eastern District of Texas for offenses related to operating a cyber-criminal marketplace that sold thousands of stolen login credentials, personal identifiable information, and authentication tools, announced Eastern District of Texas U.S. Attorney Brit Featherston. Igor Dekhtyarchuk, a resident and national of the Russian Federation (Russia), was named in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury on March 16, 2022, charging him with offenses related to operating a cyber-criminal marketplace that sold thousands of stolen log
Official actionIndictmentExtradition
Tampa, FL – A Canadian man was extradited yesterday from Canada to the United States on an indictment returned in the Middle District of Florida that charges him with conspiracy to commit computer fraud and wire fraud, intentional damage to a protected computer, and transmitting a demand in relation to damaging a protected computer arising from his alleged participation in a sophisticated form of ransomware known as NetWalker. NetWalker ransomware has targeted dozens of victims all over the world, including companies, municipalities, hospitals, law enforcement, emergency services, school distr
Official actionIndictmentExtradition
A man charged with conducting ransomware attacks against multiple victims, including the July 2021 attack against Kaseya, made his initial appearance and was arraigned today in the Northern District of Texas.
Official actionIndictmentExtradition
A Romanian hacker has been charged with selling millions of stolen credit card numbers obtained through the use of malware.
Official actionArrestGuilty plea
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that CHARLES ONUS pled guilty to computer fraud in connection with a scheme to conduct cyber intrusions in order to steal payroll deposits from multiple user accounts maintained by a company that provides human resources and payroll services to employers across the United States. ONUS was previously arrested on April 14, 2021 in San Francisco while traveling to the United States from Nigeria and has been detained since his arrest. ONUS pled guilty today before U.S. District Judge Paul G. Gardephe. U.S.
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MISSOULA — A jury today convicted a Washington woman of cyberstalking a Montana man she met online and public officials by hacking the man’s email and sending harassing and threatening communications, U.S. Attorney Leif M. Johnson said. After a three-day trial, the jury found Kathy Ann Hendrickson, also known as Kathy Thorberg, 60, of Walla Walla, Washington, guilty of cyberstalking as charged in an indictment. Hendrickson faces a maximum of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. The trial began on Feb. 14. U.S. District Judge Donald W. Molloy presided. Ju
Official actionIndictmentSentencingGuilty plea
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Mark Christopher Arnold, 39, of Albuquerque, was sentenced in federal court on Feb. 9 to four years and nine months in prison for interstate communication of threats, cyberstalking, unauthorized computer access in furtherance of cyberstalking, and aggravated identity theft. Arnold pleaded guilty to a four-count indictment on July 14, 2020. According to the indictment and other court records, Arnold and the victim were involved in a relationship from 2016 to 2018, when the victim ended the relationship after an incident in which Arnold pointed a loaded pistol at her. The vic
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WASHINGTON – Two individuals were arrested this morning in Manhattan for an alleged conspiracy to launder cryptocurrency that was stolen during the 2016 hack of Bitfinex, a virtual currency exchange, presently valued at approximately $4.5 billion. Thus far, law enforcement has seized over $3.6 billion in cryptocurrency linked to that hack.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland has seized “US-dolbids.com” which purported to be the official website for the United States Department of Labor.
Official actionArrestSentencingExtradition
Slava Dmitriev has been sentenced for access device fraud in connection with his possession and sale of over seventeen hundred stolen identities on the dark web. Dmitriev, a Canadian citizen, was arrested while on vacation in Greece in September 2020 and extradited to the United States in January 2021.
Official actionIndictmentExtradition
BOSTON—A Russian national has been extradited to the United States from Switzerland to face charges relating to his alleged involvement in a global scheme to trade on non-public information stolen from U.S. computer networks that netted tens of millions of dollars in illegal profits. Four other Russian nationals were also charged as part of the scheme.
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A Russian national was sentenced today in Hartford federal court to 48 months in prison for operating a “crypting” service used to conceal the Kelihos malware from antivirus software, which enabled hackers to systematically infect approximately hundreds of thousands of victim computers around the world with malicious software, including ransomware. According to court documents, Oleg Koshkin, 41, was convicted by a federal jury on June 15 of one count of conspiracy to commit computer fraud and abuse and one count of computer fraud and abuse. “The defendant provided a critical service used by cy
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ANCHORAGE – A federal indictment unsealed today charges a Canadian national with committing cyberattacks. According to court documents, Matthew Philbert, 31, of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, conspired with others known and unknown to the United States to damage computers, and in the course of that conspiracy did damage a computer belonging to the State of Alaska in April 2018. In a separate and parallel investigation, the Canadian authorities today also announced cybercrime charges against Philbert. He was arrested on Nov 30, 2021, by Ontario Provincial Police where he remains in custody. “Today’s
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A federal indictment unsealed today in Alaska charges a Canadian national with committing cyberattacks.
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Defendants involved in a romance fraud scheme that victimized a Taney County, Missouri, woman and an email hacking scheme that targeted a program at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., were indicted in federal court in the Western District of Missouri as part of the Department of Justice’s fourth annual Money Mule Initiative.
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BOSTON – A federal grand jury has indicted a former track and field coach in connection with a scheme to trick women across the country into sending him nude or semi-nude photos using more than a dozen sham social media and email accounts. The defendant allegedly cyberstalked one female student-athlete and orchestrated a scheme to gain unauthorized access to a victim’s Snapchat account.
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ST. LOUIS – Yesterday, a federal grand jury indicted Danial Jeloudar and Saeeid Safaei for conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Both defendants are Iranian nationals believed to be living abroad. This is the first cryptojacking case to be prosecuted in the Eastern District of Missouri. “Cryptojacking has nothing to do with whether a victim owns cryptocurrency,” said Special Agent in Charge Richard Quinn of the FBI St. Louis Division. “It’s about criminals hijacking the use of your computer’s processing power to generate and cash out cryptocurrency.” Cryptojacking is when cyber criminals fraudulent
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DETROIT - A sixth member of an international hacking group known to its members as “The Community” was sentenced yesterday in connection with a multi-million-dollar Sim Hijacking conspiracy, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Saima Mohsin for the Eastern District of Michigan. This was the final defendant to be sentenced in the case, which was indicted in 2019. U.S. Attorney Mohsin was joined in the announcement by Acting Special Agent in Charge James C. Harris of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Detroit who oversees field offices in Michigan and Ohi
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CONTACT: Barbara Burns PHONE: (716) 843-5817 FAX #: (716) 551-3051 ROCHESTER, N.Y.-U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross announced today that Maurice Sheftall, 23, of Brooklyn, NY, was arrested and charged by criminal complaint with fraud and related activity in connection with computers and wire fraud. The charges carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Assistant U.S. Attorney Meghan K. McGuire, who is handling the case, stated that according to the complaint, the defendant is accused of obtaining the credentials, including logins and passwords, of customers who had accounts
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Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Bryan Vorndran, the Assistant Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Cyber Division (“FBI”), and Matthew G. Olsen, Assistant Attorney General for National Security, announced today the unsealing of an indictment charging Iranian citizens and residents Seyyed Mohammad Hosein and MUSA KAZEMI (سید محمد حسین موسی کاظمی), a/k/a “Mohammad Hosein Musa Kazem,” a/k/a “Hosein Zamani,” and SAJJAD KASHIAN (سجاد کاشیان), a/k/a “Kiarash Nabavi,”for their involvement in a cyber-enabled campaign to intimidate and
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An indictment was unsealed in New York today charging two Iranian nationals for their involvement in a cyber-enabled campaign to intimidate and influence American voters, and otherwise undermine voter confidence and sow discord, in connection with the 2020 U.S. Presidential election.
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The Justice Department announced today recent actions taken against two foreign nationals charged with deploying Sodinokibi/REvil ransomware to attack businesses and government entities in the United States, amnounced Attorney General Merrick Garland, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, and Acting U.S. Attorney Chad E. Meacham. An indictment unsealed today charges Yaroslav Vasinskyi, 22, a Ukrainian national, with conducting ransomware attacks against multiple victims, including the July 2021 attack against Kaseya, a multi-national information technology software company. The department also
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Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Janeen DiGuiseppi, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced today the unsealing of an Indictment charging JOSEPH JAMES O’CONNOR, a/k/a “PlugwalkJoe,” with conspiracy to commit computer hacking and other crimes in connection with a SIM swapping scheme that resulted in the theft of approximately $784,000 worth of cryptocurrency. The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman. O’CONNOR was previously arrested in Spain on ot
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Christian Akhatsegbe has been arraigned on federal charges of wire and computer fraud conspiracy, access device fraud, and aggravated identity theft related to a multi-million-dollar cyber-fraud scheme allegedly perpetrated through email phishing, credential harvesting, and invoice fraud. Emmanuel Aiye Akhatsegbe, who is believed to be residing in Nigeria, was also charged in the scheme.
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Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Michael J. Driscoll, Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced that JOSHUA STREIT, a/k/a “Josh Brody,” was charged with conducting intrusions into Major League Baseball (“MLB”) computer systems, and illegally streaming copyrighted content from MLB, the National Basketball Association (“NBA”), the National Football League (“NFL”), and the National Hockey League (“NHL”), in connection with a website STREIT operated that offered the illeg
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Today, the Department of Justice, through the Joint Criminal Opioid and Darknet Enforcement (JCODE) team joined Europol to announce the results of Operation Dark HunTor, a coordinated international effort on three continents to disrupt opioid trafficking on the Darknet. The operation, which was conducted across the United States, Australia, and Europe, was a result of the continued partnership between JCODE and foreign law enforcement against the illegal sale of drugs and other illicit goods and services. Operation Dark HunTor builds on the success of last year’s Operation DisrupTor and the co
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ALBANY, NEW YORK – Thomas A. Johnson, age 24, of Boone, North Carolina, pled guilty today to directing a distributed denial of service (“DDoS”) attack that disrupted internet access for thousands of Plattsburgh-area internet customers. The announcement was made by United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman and Janeen DiGuiseppi, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). DDoS attacks target websites and online services. The attacker causes the targeted server or network to be overwhelmed by more internet traffic than the server or network can
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A federal grand jury returned a superseding indictment yesterday charging three individuals with money laundering and aggravated identity theft as part of a business email compromise (BEC) scheme.
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Federal Indictment in Chicago Charges Turkish National With Directing Cyber Attack on Multinational Hospitality Company
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An Illinois man was found guilty today by a federal jury for running websites that allowed paying users to launch powerful distributed denial of service, or DDoS, attacks that flood targeted computers with information and prevent them from being able to access the internet.
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U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang today sentenced Eric Eoin Marques, age 36, of Dublin, Ireland, to 27 years in federal prison, followed lifetime supervised release, for conspiracy to advertise child pornography on the dark web. Marques, a dual national citizen of the United States and Ireland, pleaded guilty to that charge on February 6, 2020, after he was extradited by Irish authorities. Marques arrived in the United States on March 23, 2019, to face federal criminal charges filed in Maryland on August 8, 2013.
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Tampa, Florida – Acting United States Attorney Karin Hoppmann announces the unsealing of two indictments charging Olufemi Odedeyi (40, London, UK), Ibrahim Davies (40, London, UK), Adetunji Adejumo (43, Oklahoma City, OK), and Ibrahim Jinadu (34, Atlanta, GA) with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, theft of public money or property, and aggravated identity theft. Odedeyi, Davies, and Jinadu were arrested on September 9, 2021 and Adejumo was arrested on September 13, 2021. Officers from the UK National Extradition Unit apprehended Odedeyi and Davies in London, United Kingdom, where they have been
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WASHINGTON – On Sept. 7, U.S. citizens, Marc Baier, 49, and Ryan Adams, 34, and a former U.S. citizen, Daniel Gericke, 40, all former employees of the U.S. Intelligence Community (USIC) or the U.S. military, entered into a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) that restricts their future activities and employment and requires the payment of $1,685,000 in penalties to resolve a Department of Justice investigation regarding violations of U.S. export control, computer fraud and access device fraud laws. The Department filed the DPA today, along with a criminal information alleging that the defenda
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NEW ORLEANS – U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that RICHARD YUAN LI , age 21, a resident of Hercules, California, was charged on August 26, 2021 by a federal grand jury seated in the Eastern District of Louisiana in a four-count Superseding Indictment with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1343 and 1349 (Count 1), conspiracy to engage in interstate communication with intent to extort and to commit computer fraud and abuse, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 371, 875(d), and 1030(a)(7) (Count 2), wire fraud, in viol
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Tampa, Florida – Acting United States Attorney Karin Hoppmann announces the extradition of Glib Oleksandr Ivanov-Tolpintsev (28, Chernivtsi, Ukraine) in connection with charges of conspiracy, trafficking in unauthorized access devices, and trafficking in computer passwords. If convicted on all counts, he faces a maximum penalty of 17 years in federal prison. The indictment also notifies Ivanov-Tolpintsev that the United States intends to forfeit $82,648, which is alleged to be traceable to proceeds of the offenses.
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LEXINGTON, Ky.— A Romanian National, Adrian Mitan, 36, was sentenced to 140 months in federal prison on Friday, by U.S. District Judge Robert Wier, after pleading guilty for his role in three separate schemes charged across three separate indictments: a money laundering conspiracy arising from online auction fraud scheme (commonly referred to as eBay fraud), a credit card phishing and brute-force attack scheme, and a vishing scheme, all designed to steal money from Americans. According to his plea agreement, Mitan worked in conjunction with others to post advertisements for goods to sales webs
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WASHINGTON – An Ohio man pleaded guilty today to a money laundering conspiracy arising from his operation of Helix, a Darknet-based cryptocurrency laundering service. According to court documents, Larry Dean Harmon, 38, of Akron, admitted that he operated Helix from 2014 to 2017. Helix functioned as a bitcoin “mixer” or “tumbler,” allowing customers, for a fee, to send bitcoin to designated recipients in a manner that was designed to conceal the source or owner of the bitcoin. Helix was linked to and associated with “Grams,” a Darknet search engine also run by Harmon. Harmon advertised Helix t
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PITTSBURGH – Two individuals have pleaded guilty for their roles in the cybercriminal money laundering organization QQAAZZ. On August 6 and July 13, two of the charged defendants, Arturs Zaharevics and Aleksejs Trofimovics, respectively, pleaded guilty to money laundering conspiracy in the Western District of Pennsylvania. QQAAZZ was a European-based money laundering organization that provided illegal cash-out and cryptocurrency transactions for computer hackers and their associates. In total, 20 individuals have been charged as part of this scheme. In furtherance of QQAAZZ’s criminal conspira
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A federal grand jury indictment unsealed this week alleges an elaborate scheme to steal more than $1.1 million from a businessperson attempting to finance the construction of a school for children in Qatar – and the subsequent laundering of illicit proceeds through bank accounts around the world.
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ANCHORAGE – An Estonian national pleaded guilty today in the District of Alaska to two counts of computer fraud and abuse. According to court documents, Pavel Tsurkan, 33, operated a criminal proxy botnet by remotely accessing and compromising more than 1,000 computer devices and internet routers worldwide, including at least 60 victims in Alaska. He used the victims’ devices to build and operate an Internet of Things (IoT)-based botnet dubbed the “Russian2015” using the domain Russian2015.ru. He modified the operation of each compromised internet router so it could be used as a proxy to trans
A citizen of the United Kingdom was arrested today in Estepona, Spain, by Spanish National Police pursuant to a U.S. request for his arrest on multiple charges in connection with the July 2020 hack of Twitter that resulted in the compromise of over 130 Twitter accounts, including those belonging to politicians, celebrities and companies.
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Assistant U. S. Attorney Fred Sheppard (619) 546-8237 SAN DIEGO – A federal grand jury returned an indictment charging four nationals and residents of the People’s Republic of China with a campaign to hack into the computer systems of dozens of victim companies, universities, and government entities in the United States and abroad between 2011 and 2018. Click to see the INDICTMENT The indictment, which was returned in May and unsealed on Friday, alleges that much of the conspiracy’s theft was focused on information that was of significant economic benefit to China’s companies and commercial se
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BOSTON – A Hingham man was arrested today in connection with a business email compromise (BEC) scheme.
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Pursuant to court orders, the United States today seized 33 websites used by the Iranian Islamic Radio and Television Union (IRTVU) and three websites operated by Kata’ib Hizballah (KH), in violation of U.S. sanctions against Iran.
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A federal jury in Hartford convicted a Russian national yesterday for his role in operating a “crypting” service used to conceal “Kelihos” malware from antivirus software, enabling hackers to systematically infect victim computers around the world with malicious software, including ransomware. Oleg Koshkin, 41, formerly of Estonia, was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit computer fraud and abuse and one count of aiding and abetting computer fraud and abuse. He faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and is scheduled to be sentenced on September 20. “By operating a website that
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PAVEL TSURKAN, 33, of Estonia, pleaded guilty today in the District of Connecticut to a federal charge related to his role in operating a “crypting” service used to conceal “Kelihos” malware from antivirus software, enabling hackers to systematically infect victim computers around the world with malicious software, including ransomware. Tsurkan pleaded guilty via videoconference before U.S. Magistrate Judge S. Dave Vatti to one count of aiding and abetting unauthorized access to a protected computer, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years. According to court documen
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The Justice Department today announced its participation in a multinational operation involving actions in the United States, Germany, the Netherlands, and Romania to disrupt and take down the infrastructure of the online marketplace known as Slilpp.
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Vikas Singla has been arraigned on charges arising out of a cyberattack conducted on Gwinnett Medical Center in 2018. Singla was indicted by a federal grand jury on June 8, 2021.
SAN FRANCISCO - The Department of Justice today announced that it has seized 63.7 bitcoins currently valued at over $2.3 million. These funds allegedly represent a significant portion of the proceeds of a May 8 ransom payment to individuals in a group known as DarkSide, which had targeted Colonial Pipeline resulting in critical infrastructure being taken out of operation. The seizure warrant was authorized earlier today by U.S. Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler. “Following the money remains one of the most basic, yet powerful tools we have,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco for the U.S
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A Latvian national was arraigned in federal court in Cleveland, Ohio, today on multiple charges stemming from her alleged role in a transnational cybercrime organization responsible for creating and deploying a computer banking trojan and ransomware suite of malware known as “Trickbot.”
Audrey Strauss, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, William F. Sweeney Jr., Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), and Jonathan D. Larsen, Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (“IRS-CI”), announced today the arrest of CHARLES ONUS for charges in connection with a scheme to conduct cyber intrusions of multiple user accounts maintained by a company that provides human resources and payroll services to employers across the United
On May 28, 2021, pursuant to court orders issued in the Eastern District of Virginia, the United States seized two command-and-control (C2) and malware distribution domains used in recent spear-phishing activity that mimicked email communications from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). This malicious activity was the subject of a May 27, 2021 Microsoft security alert, titled “New sophisticated email-based attack from Nobelium,” in which Microsoft attributed the activity to a nation-state group.
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Earlier today, Aleksandr Zhukov, a Russian national, was convicted by a federal jury in Brooklyn of four counts of a superseding indictment charging him with wire fraud conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering conspiracy, and money laundering. The charges arose from Zhukov’s sophisticated scheme to defraud brands, ad platforms and others in the U.S. digital advertising industry out of more than $7 million.
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BOSTON – A Rhode Island woman was charged today with sending phishing emails to candidates for political office and others.
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CONCORD - Wayne Kenney, 31, of Hooksett, was sentenced to 12 months and one day in federal prison for unauthorized access to a computer and damage to protected computers, Acting United States Attorney John J. Farley announced today. According to court documents and statements made in court, in early 2015, Kenney was arrested by a police officer with the Auburn Police Department (hereafter referred to as “John Doe 1” to protect his identity) for possession of heroin, for which he received a suspended sentence and was required to attend drug counseling sessions at the Farnum Center, an addiction
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Federal Indictment Charges 22 Individuals With Purchasing and Using Payment Cards Stolen From National Retail Chain
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Assistant U. S. Attorney Alexandra F. Foster (619) 546-6735 NEWS RELEASE SUMMARY – May 24, 2021 SAN DIEGO – Kirill Victorovich Firsov, a Russian citizen, was sentenced to 30 months in custody for his role as the administrator of a website that catered to cyber criminals by virtually selling items such as stolen credit card information, other personal information and services to be used for criminal activity. The now-defunct online platform DEER.IO started operations as of at least October 2013, and, as of Firsov’s arrest in March 2020, the platform hosted approximately 3,000 active shops with
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PITTSBURGH, PA - A Michigan man pleaded guilty today to hacking the human resources databases of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and stealing Personally Identifiable Information (PII) of more than 65,000 UPMC employees, Acting United States Attorney Stephen R. Kaufman announced today. Justin Sean Johnson, aka TheDearthStar and Dearthy Star on the dark web, 30, of Detroit, Michigan, pleaded guilty to Counts 1 and 39 of a 43-count Indictment before Chief United States District Judge Mark R. Hornak. Johnson was indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh on May 20, 2020, and the ca
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PORTLAND, Ore.—A federal grand jury in Portland has returned an indictment charging a Beaverton, Oregon, man for his role in a scheme to steal and resell customer account credentials for popular internet streaming services including Netflix, HBO Max, and Spotify Premium. Samuel Joyner, 30, has been charged with conspiracy to commit computer and access device fraud, trafficking and use of unauthorized access devices, and possession of fifteen or more unauthorized access devices. “I applaud the thorough investigative effort and international law enforcement coordination resulting in these charge
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland has seized “freevaccinecovax.org” which purported to be the website of an actual biotechnology company developing a vaccine for the COVID-19 virus but instead was allegedly used to collect the personal information of individuals visiting the site, in order to use the information for nefarious purposes, including fraud, phishing attacks, and/or deployment of malware. Individuals visiting the site will now see a message that the site has been seized by the federal government and be redirected to another site for additional information.
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WASHINGTON - A dual Russian-Swedish national was arrested Tuesday at Los Angeles International Airport on criminal charges related to his alleged operation of the longest-running bitcoin money laundering service on the darknet. According to court documents, Roman Sterlingov, 32, operated Bitcoin Fog since 2011. Bitcoin Fog was the longest-running cryptocurrency “mixer,” gaining notoriety as a go-to money laundering service for criminals seeking to hide their illicit proceeds from law enforcement. Over the course of its decade-long operation, Bitcoin Fog moved over 1.2 million bitcoin – valued
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NEWARK, N.J. – Two operators of an illegal e-commerce business engaged in the sale of digital images of false identity documents, such as passports, driver’s licenses, and national identity cards associated with more than 200 countries and territories, were charged in a six-count federal indictment unsealed in the District of New Jersey today, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig announced. Mohsin Raza, aka “Mohsin Raza Amiri,” 34, and Mujtaba Raza, aka “Mujtaba Ali Lilani,” “Mujtaba Ali,” and “Mujtaba,” 33, both of Karachi, Pakistan, are each charged with conspiracy to produce and transfer i
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Acting U.S. Attorney Bridget M. Brennan announced that a federal grand jury sitting in Cleveland has returned an indictment charging Davis Lu, 51, of Houston, Texas, with one count of damaging protected computers.
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Authorities have executed a court-authorized operation to copy and remove malicious web shells from hundreds of vulnerable computers in the United States
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BOSTON – A former track and field coach at various universities was arrested and charged today in connection with a scheme to trick female student-athletes, through sham social media accounts, into sending him nude or semi-nude photos. The defendant also allegedly cyberstalked at least one female student-athlete.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland has seized “healthbridgescience.com,” “global-pandemic-vaccines.com,” and “genobioscience.com” all of which purported to be the websites of actual biotechnology companies developing treatments for the COVID-19 virus but instead were allegedly used to collect the personal information of individuals visiting the sites, in order to use the information for nefarious purposes, including fraud, phishing attacks, and/or deployment of malware. Individuals visiting those sites now will see a message that the site has been seized by the federal gov
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia announced today the seizure of seven websites as part of ongoing efforts by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) to combat online fraud schemes that seek to exploit the increased interest in vaccines, treatments, and employment opportunities associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.
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ALBANY, NEW YORK – Thomas A. Johnson, age 24, of Boone, North Carolina, has been charged with perpetrating a March 2016 distributed denial of service (“DDOS”) attack that disrupted internet access for thousands of Plattsburgh-area internet customers. The announcement was made by Acting United States Attorney Antoinette T. Bacon and Thomas F. Relford, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). DDOS attacks target websites and online services. The attacker causes the targeted server or network to be overwhelmed by more internet traffic than t
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Seattle – A prolific Swiss computer hacker, TILL KOTTMANN, 21, was indicted today by a grand jury in the Western District of Washington for computer intrusion and identity and data theft activities spanning 2019 to the present.
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PHOENIX, Ariz. – Joshua Polloso Epifaniou, 22, of Nicosia, Cyprus was sentenced today in the Northern District of Georgia by U.S. District Judge Mark H. Cohen to 12 months and one day in prison, on top of the nearly four years Epifaniou has already served in custody since his arrest in Cyprus in May 2017. Epifaniou pleaded guilty to federal computer fraud charges brought in Arizona and the Northern District of Georgia. As a result of his conviction, Epifaniou forfeited $389,113 and 70,000 euros to the government and paid $600,000 in restitution to the victims of his fraud. Epifaniou is the fir
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Assistant U.S. Attorneys Meghan E. Heesch (619) 546-9442 and Joshua C. Mellor (619) 546-9733 NEWS RELEASE SUMMARY – March 12, 2021 SAN DIEGO – A federal grand jury today returned an indictment against the Chief Executive Officer and an associate of the Canada-based firm Sky Global on charges that they knowingly and intentionally participated in a criminal enterprise that facilitated the transnational importation and distribution of narcotics through the sale and service of encrypted communications devices. Jean-Francois Eap, Sky Global’s Chief Executive Officer, and Thomas Herdman, a former hi
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland has seized “usaregenermedicals.com,” which purported to sell and distribute REGEN-COV2, an antibody drug cocktail approved for the treatment of COVID-19 virus. However, the website was fraudulent and instead appears to have been used to collect the personal information of individuals visiting the site, in order to use the information for nefarious purposes, including fraud, phishing attacks, and/or deployment of malware. Individuals visiting the site now will see a message that the site has been seized by the federal government and be red
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Robert Purbeck, of Meridian, Idaho, made his initial appearance before a U.S. Magistrate Judge in Boise, Idaho. Purbeck was indicted in the Northern District of Georgia on March 2, 2021 for computer fraud and abuse, access device fraud, and wire fraud.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland has seized “remdesivirmx.com,” which purported to sell and distribute Remdesivir, an antiviral drug approved for the treatment of the COVID-19 virus, in Mexico. However, the website was fraudulent and instead appears to have been used to collect the personal information of individuals visiting the site, in order to use the information for nefarious purposes, including fraud, phishing attacks, and/or deployment of malware. Individuals visiting the site now will see a message that the site has been seized by the federal government and be re
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Andrew Murray, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, announced today the filing of a federal civil complaint seeking the forfeiture of $1,047,535 seized from a money mule bank account being used to defraud a Virgin Islands business via a business email compromise scheme. Reginald DeMatteis, Special Agent in Charge of the United States Secret Service, Charlotte Field Office, joins U.S. Attorney Murray in making today’s announcement. A business email compromise scheme, or BEC, is a sophisticated scam, often targeting businesses involved in wire transfer paym
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A federal indictment unsealed today charges three North Korean computer programmers with participating in a wide-ranging criminal conspiracy to conduct a series of destructive cyberattacks, to steal and extort more than $1.3 billion of money and cryptocurrency from financial institutions and companies, to create and deploy multiple malicious cryptocurrency applications, and to develop and fraudulently market a blockchain platform.
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A federal indictment unsealed today charges three North Korean computer programmers with participating in a wide-ranging criminal conspiracy to conduct a series of destructive cyber-attacks, to steal and extort more than $1.3 billion of money and cryptocurrency from financial institutions and companies, to create and deploy multiple malicious cryptocurrency applications, and to develop and fraudulently market a blockchain platform.
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WASHINGTON – The Justice Department today announced its participation in a multinational operation involving actions in the United States, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom to disrupt and take down the infrastructure of the malware and botnet known as Emotet. Additionally, officials in Lithuania, Sweden, and Ukraine assisted in this major cyber investigative action. “The Emotet malware and botnet infected hundreds of thousands of computers throughout the United States, including our critical infrastructure, and caused millions of dollars in damage to victims worl
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Tampa, FL – The Department of Justice today announced a coordinated international law enforcement action to disrupt a sophisticated form of ransomware known as NetWalker.
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SAN FRANCISCO - A federal complaint was unsealed today charging Ardit Ferizi with wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, announced United States Attorney David L. Anderson and Federal Bureau of Investigation, Special Agent in Charge Rachel L. Rojas, of the Jacksonville, Florida, FBI Division. Ardit Ferizi, 25, a Kosovo citizen, last resided in Malaysia before being brought to the Eastern District of Virginia (EDVA) in 2016 to face federal criminal charges. Ferizi pleaded guilty to unauthorized access of computer information and to providing material support to a foreign terrorist group by p
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Audrey Strauss, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that ANDREI TYURIN, a/k/a “Andrei Tiurin,” was sentenced in Manhattan federal court to 144 months in prison for computer intrusion, wire fraud, bank fraud, and illegal online gambling offenses in connection with his involvement in a massive computer hacking campaign targeting U.S. financial institutions, brokerage firms, financial news publishers, and other American companies. TYURIN is charged with committing these crimes with Gery Shalon, a/k/a “Garri Shalelashvili,” a/k/a “Gabriel,” a/k/
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DETROIT – United States Attorney Matthew Schneider announced today that law enforcement in the United States has worked jointly in support of an international takedown of a virtual private network (VPN), dubbed “Operation Nova.” Domain names offered by an organization engaged in “bulletproof hosting” that provided assistance to cyber-criminals were seized, and related servers were shut down. U.S.-based servers used in the scheme were taken offline by U.S. authorities, while International partners did the same. Schneider was joined in the announcement by Special Agent in Charge Timothy Waters o
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland has seized “mordernatx.com” and “regeneronmedicals.com,” which purported to be the websites of actual biotechnology companies developing treatments for the COVID-19 virus, but instead appears to have been used to collect the personal information of individuals visiting the sites, in order to use the information for nefarious purposes, including fraud, phishing attacks, and/or deployment of malware. Individuals visiting those sites now will see a message that the site has been seized by the federal government and be redirected to another s
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NEW ORLEANS – U.S. Attorney Peter G. Strasser announced that COLBI TRENT DEFIORE , age 27, a resident of Carriere, Mississippi, was sentenced to 42 months imprisonment, 3 years of supervised release and payment of a $100 special assessment fee by United States District Judge Jay A. Zainey after previously pleading guilty to a one-count indictment with intentionally accessing a protected computer in excess of authorization for the purpose of commercial advantage and private financial gain, and in furtherance of the commission of a felony, in violation of 18 U.S.C. ' 1030(a)(2)(C). Judge Zainey
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Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Wednesday, December 9, 2020 An individual, formerly a juvenile, pleaded guilty to committing acts of federal juvenile delinquency in relation to a cyberattack that caused massive disruption to the Internet in October 2016. Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian C. Rabbitt of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Scott W. Murray of the District of New Hampshire, and Special Agent in Charge Joseph R. Bonavolonta of the FBI’s Boston Division made the announcement. According to the plea agreement, the individ
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CONCORD - Wayne Kenney, 31, of Hooksett, pleaded guilty in federal court to unauthorized access to a computer and damage to protected computers, United States Attorney Scott W. Murray announced today. According to court documents and statements made in court, in early 2015, Kenney was arrested by a police officer with the Auburn Police Department (hereafter referred to as “John Doe 1” to protect his identity) for possession of heroin, for which he received a suspended sentence and was required to attend drug counseling sessions at the Farnum Center, an addiction treatment center located in Man
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A Russian national was sentenced Oct. 30 to eight years in prison for his role in operating a sophisticated scheme to steal and traffic sensitive personal and financial information in the online criminal underground that resulted in an estimated loss of over $100 million.
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CONTACT: Barbara Burns PHONE: (716) 843-5817 FAX #: (716) 551-3051 ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Ameer Elashmawy, 28, of Rochester, NY, was charged by criminal complaint with unauthorized access of a protected computer and identity theft. The charges carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa M. Marangola, who is handling the case, stated that according to the complaint, the defendant was an Information Systems Security Support Coordinator at Trillium Health in Rochester, and was responsible
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A federal grand jury has indicted Jordan K. Milleson, age 21, of Timonium, Maryland, and Kyell A. Bryan, age 19, of Kingston, Pennsylvania, on the federal charges of Wire Fraud, Unauthorized Access to Protected Computers in Furtherance of Fraud, Intentional Damage to Protected Computers, Aggravated Identity Theft, and Wire Fraud Conspiracy, in connection with their unauthorized takeovers of victims’ wireless phone and other electronic accounts and to steal digital currency and valuable social media accounts. The superseding indictment was returned on September 9, 2020, and was unsealed today a
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PITTSBURGH – On Oct. 15, 2020, a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh returned an indictment charging six computer hackers, all of whom were residents and nationals of the Russian Federation (Russia) and officers in Unit 74455 of the Russian Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU), a military intelligence agency of the General Staff of the Armed Forces. These GRU hackers and their co-conspirators engaged in computer intrusions and attacks intended to support Russian government efforts to undermine, retaliate against, or otherwise destabilize: (1) Ukraine; (2) Georgia; (3) elections in France; (4) effo
“The Eastern District of Texas is proud to work alongside our federal law enforcement partners to protect consumers from Internet-based fraud schemes, and we are glad to partner with companies such as Amazon which referred this matter to the Department in the first instance,” said U.S. Attorney Stephen J. Cox. “The collaborative efforts that led to the seizures of these phony websites are just the first steps toward holding the wrongdoers accountable.”
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Note: Pre-recorded statements from officials quoted in this news release can be viewed here , an infographic can be viewed here , and copies of the indictments can be obtained by clicking on: US v. Nazarovi, et. al. and US v. Trofimovics, et. al. U.S. Victims of Various Cybercriminal Malware Schemes throughout the United States Had Stolen Multi-Million Dollar Funds Laundered by QQAAZZ PITTSBURGH – Fourteen members of the transnational criminal organization, QQAAZZ, were charged by a federal grand jury in the Western District of Pennsylvania in an indictment unsealed today. A related indictment
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CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Andrew Murray, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, announced today federal charges against four individuals, for operating as “money mules” in two separate business email compromise schemes. A business email compromise scheme, or BEC, is a sophisticated scam, often targeting businesses involved in wire transfer payments. The fraud is carried out by compromising and/or “spoofing” legitimate business email accounts through social engineering or computer intrusion techniques, to cause employees of the victim company (or other individuals involved in legitim
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NEWARK, N.J. – Two men will appear in federal court to face charges that they were involved in the unauthorized takeover of social media and other personal online accounts belonging to professional and semi-professional athletes, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced today. Trevontae Washington, 21, of Thibodaux, Louisiana, and Ronnie Magrehbi, 20, of Orlando, Florida, are each charged in separate criminal complaints with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit computer fraud and abuse. Washington is scheduled to appear today before U.S. Magistrate
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NEWARK, N.J. – A Nigerian national was sentenced today to 36 months in prison for his role in a computer hacking and identity theft scheme that defrauded vendors of nearly $1 million of office products after “phishing” e-mail login information from government employees, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced. Olumide Ogunremi, a/k/a “Tony Williams,” 43, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Susan B. Wigenton in Newark federal court to an indictment charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Judge Wigenton imposed the sentence today by video conference. Acco
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Today, the Department of Justice, through the Joint Criminal Opioid and Darknet Enforcement (JCODE) team joined Europol to announce the results of Operation DisrupTor, a coordinated international effort to disrupt opioid trafficking on the Darknet. The operation, which was conducted across the United States and Europe, demonstrates the continued partnership between JCODE and Europol against the illegal sale of drugs and other illicit goods and services. Operation DisrupTor builds on the success of last year’s Operation SaboTor and the coordinated law enforcement takedown of the Wall Street Mar
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An indictment was unsealed today charging three computer hackers, all of whom were residents and nationals of the Islamic Republic of Iran (Iran), with engaging in a coordinated campaign of identity theft and hacking on behalf of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a designated foreign terrorist organization, in order to steal critical information related to United States aerospace and satellite technology and resources.
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An indictment was unsealed today charging three computer hackers, all of whom were residents and nationals of the Islamic Republic of Iran (Iran), with engaging in a coordinated campaign of identity theft and hacking on behalf of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a designated foreign terrorist organization, in order to steal critical information related to U.S. aerospace and satellite technology and resources.
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Starting on Sept. 14, 2020 and continuing through today, the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of the Treasury have engaged in a coordinated effort to disrupt and deter malicious cyber activities by actors associated with the Islamic Republic of Iran’s (Iran) Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), as well as other Iran-based individuals. These malicious cyber actors targeted victims in Australia, Europe, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and the United States. “T
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NEWARK, N.J. – Two Iranian nationals have been charged in connection with a coordinated cyber intrusion campaign – sometimes at the behest of the government of Iran – targeting computers in New Jersey and around the world, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced today. Hooman Heidarian, a/k/a “neo,” 30, and Mehdi Farhadi, a/k/a “Mehdi Mahdavi” and “Mohammad Mehdi Farhadi Ramin,” 34, both of Hamedan, Iran, are each charged in a 10-count indictment returned Sept. 15, 2020, with: one count each of conspiracy to commit fraud and related activity in connection with computers and access devices; com
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In August 2019 and August 2020, a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., returned two separate indictments charging five computer hackers, all of whom were residents and nationals of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), with computer intrusions affecting over 100 victim companies in the United States and abroad, including software development companies, computer hardware manufacturers, telecommunications providers, social media companies, video game companies, non-profit organizations, universities, think tanks, and foreign governments, as well as pro-democracy politicians and activists in H
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Two Iranian nationals have been charged in connection with a coordinated cyber intrusion campaign – sometimes at the behest of the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran (Iran) – targeting computers in New Jersey, elsewhere in the United States, Europe and the Middle East, the Department of Justice announced today.
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A criminal complaint was filed here today charging a Russian national for his alleged role in a conspiracy to use the stolen identities of real U.S. persons to open fraudulent accounts at banking and cryptocurrency exchanges.
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WASHINGTON – A federal grand jury in the District of Nevada returned an indictment yesterday charging a Russian national for his role in a conspiracy to intentionally cause damage to a protected computer. Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian C. Rabbitt of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Nicholas A. Trutanich of the District of Nevada, and Special Agent in Charge Aaron C. Rouse of the FBI’s Las Vegas Field Office made the announcement. The indictment alleges that Egor Igorevich Kriuchkov, 27, a citizen of Russia, attempted to recruit an employee of a company located
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Haizhou Hu, a Chinese national conducting research at the University of Virginia, was arrested today and charged via criminal complaint with a pair of federal crimes just days after he attempted to board a flight to China. United States Attorney Thomas T. Cullen and David W. Archey, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Richmond Division announced the arrest. Hu, 34, is charged with accessing a computer without authorization, or exceeding authorization to obtain information from a protected computer and theft of trade secrets. According to court documents, investigators f
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CONTACT: Barbara Burns PHONE: (716) 843-5817 FAX #: (716) 551-3051 BUFFALO, N.Y.-U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy Jr. announced today that David Mondore, 29, of New York, New York, was arrested this morning in Manhattan and charged by complaint with unauthorized access to computer systems in furtherance of any criminal act in violation of state law; unauthorized access to a protected computer in furtherance of fraud; and aggravated identity theft. The unauthorized access charges carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Aggravated identity theft carries a mandatory two
WASHINGTON – The Justice Department today filed a civil forfeiture complaint detailing two hacks of virtual currency exchanges by North Korean actors. These actors stole millions of dollars’ worth of cryptocurrency and ultimately laundered the funds through Chinese over-the-counter (OTC) cryptocurrency traders. The complaint follows related criminal and civil actions announced in March 2020 pertaining to the theft of $250 million in cryptocurrency through other exchange hacks by North Korean actors. “As part of our commitment to safeguarding national security, this office has been at the foref
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Memphis, TN – A Ghanaian citizen residing in Tamale, Ghana, has been extradited to stand trial for an indictment charging him with wire fraud, money laundering, computer fraud and aggravated identity theft. Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian C. Rabbitt of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant of the Western District of Tennessee, and Special Agent in Charge Douglas Korneski of the FBI’s Memphis Field Office made the announcement. On Aug. 23, 2017, a federal grand jury in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee indicted Maxwell
RENO, Nev. — A Russian national made his initial appearance in federal court yesterday for his role in a conspiracy to recruit an employee of a company to introduce malicious software into the company’s computer network, extract data from the network, and extort ransom money from the company, announced U.S. Attorney Nicholas A. Trutanich of the District of Nevada and Special Agent in Charge Aaron C. Rouse of the FBI.
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WASHINGTON - The Justice Department today announced the dismantling of three terrorist financing cyber-enabled campaigns, involving the al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s military wing, al-Qaeda, and Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS).
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United States Attorney Erica H. MacDonald today announced the unsealing of three separate indictments against OLUFEMI OLUWASEUN BANJO, a/k/a “Femi Banjo,” 37, FRANCIS NWABUEZE IWUOHA, 38, and OLUWADAMILARE GBENGA MACAULAY, 32, charging them with wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and conspiracy. The defendants are at large and believed to be in Nigeria. According to the allegations in the indictments, from approximately March 2016, through approximately February 2018, BANJO, IWUOHA, and MACAULAY, all citizens of Nigeria, gained unauthorized access to internet accounts of thousands of indiv
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Three individuals have been charged today for their alleged roles in the Twitter hack that occurred on July 15, 2020.
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A Yorba Linda man has agreed to plead guilty to federal criminal charges that he operated an illegal virtual-currency money services business that exchanged up to $25 million – including on behalf of criminals – through in-person transactions and a network of Bitcoin ATM-type kiosks.
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WASHINGTON – A federal grand jury in Spokane, Washington, returned an indictment earlier this month charging two hackers, both nationals and residents of the People’s Republic of China (China), with hacking into the computer systems of hundreds of victim companies, governments, non-governmental organizations, and individual dissidents, clergy, and democratic and human rights activists in the United States and abroad, including Hong Kong and China. The defendants in some instances acted for their own personal financial gain, and in others for the benefit of the MSS or other Chinese government a
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Seattle – An indictment was unsealed today in the Western District of Washington charging a citizen of Kazakhstan, ANDREY TURCHIN, a/k/a “fxmsp,” 37, with various federal crimes related to a prolific, financially motivated cybercrime group that hacked the computer networks of a broad array of corporate entities, educational institutions, and governments throughout the world, announced U.S. Attorney Brian T. Moran.
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A Dubai resident who flaunted his extravagant lifestyle on social media has arrived in the United States to face criminal charges alleging he conspired to launder hundreds of millions of dollars from business email compromise (BEC) frauds and other scams, including schemes targeting a U.S. law firm, a foreign bank and an English Premier League soccer club.
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A federal grand jury returned a second superseding indictment today charging Julian P. Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, with offenses that relate to Assange’s alleged role in one of the largest compromises of classified information in the history of the United States.
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PITTSBURGH, PA – The man who allegedly hacked the human resource databases of University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and stole PII of over 65,000 UPMC employees was arrested Tuesday morning in Detroit, Michigan, United States Attorney Scott W. Brady announced today. Justin Sean Johnson was indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh on charges of conspiracy, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft associated with the 2014 hack of UPMC. Johnson is alleged to have then sold employees’ Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and W-2 information on the dark web, resulting in the filing of t
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United States Attorney Joe Kelly and Kristi K. Johnson, Special Agent in Charge of the Omaha field office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, announced the unsealing of indictments charging six Nigerian nationals for their involvement in Business Email Compromise (BEC) schemes. The schemes included individual victims and victim businesses both in Nebraska and other states. BECs are sophisticated cyber crimes involving electronic transfer payments or automated clearinghouse transfers. The indictments charge the defendants with one or more of the following violations of federal law: 1) Consp
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NEW ORLEANS – U.S. Attorney Peter G. Strasser announced that RICHARD YUAN LI , age 20, a resident of Hercules, California, was charged on June 8, 2020 in the Eastern District of Louisiana in a one-count Bill of Information with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 371 and 1343, for his role in a SIM Swap scam that targeted at least twenty people, including a New Orleans-area physician. According to the Bill of Information, a SIM Swap scam is a cellular phone account takeover fraud that results in the routing of a victim’s incoming calls and te
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BOSTON – A New York City man was charged yesterday with conspiracies to engage in computer hacking, trafficking in stolen payment card numbers, and money laundering.
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NEW ORLEANS – U.S. Attorney Peter G. Strasser announced that CARLOS DAVID IRIAS , age 46, a resident of Cutler Bay, Florida, was charged today in a one-count bill of information with intentionally accessing a protected computer without authorization and recklessly causing damage resulting in loss to Company A, a company in New, Orleans, Louisiana that used to employ IRIAS , of more than $5,000 during one year, in violation of 18 U.S.C. '' 1030(a)(5)(B) and 1030(c)(4)(A). Company A was in the business of that developing and distributing specialized urological medical devices including scopes an
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Christopher Dobbins, a former employee of a medical device packaging company, has been charged by criminal complaint for conducting a computer intrusion into his former employer’s package shipping system and deleting shipping information.
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NEWS RELEASE SUMMARY – March 24, 2020 San Diego – A Russian-based cyber platform known as DEER.IO was shut down by the FBI today, and its suspected administrator – alleged Russian hacker Kirill Victorovich Firsov - was arrested and charged with crimes related to the hacking of U.S. companies for customers’ personal information. DEER.IO was a Russian-based cyber platform that allowed criminals to purchase access to cyber storefronts on the platform and sell their criminal products or services. DEER.IO started operations as of at least October 2013, and claimed to have over 24,000 active shops w
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WASHINGTON –Dutch National Michael R. M. a/k/a Mr. Dark, 32, was indicted by a federal grand jury in the District of Columbia for his operation of Dark Scandals, a site on both the Darknet and Clearnet that featured violent rape videos and depictions of child pornography. The nine-count indictment was unsealed today along with a parallel civil forfeiture action. The defendant was charged with various counts of Distribution of Child Pornography, Production and Transportation of Obscene Matters for Sale or Distribution, Engaging in the Business of Selling or Transferring Obscene Matter, and Laun
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WASHINGTON – Two Chinese nationals were charged with laundering over $100 million worth of cryptocurrency from a hack of a cryptocurrency exchange. The funds were stolen by North Korean actors in 2018, as detailed in the civil forfeiture complaint also unsealed today. In the two-count indictment unsealed today in the District of Columbia, 田寅寅 aka Tian Yinyin, and 李家东aka Li Jiadong, were charged with money laundering conspiracy and operating an unlicensed money transmitting business. “The hacking of virtual currency exchanges and related money laundering for the benefit of North Korean actors p
FBI agents this morning arrested a Santa Monica man on federal charges stemming from a series of distributed denial-of-service – or DDoS – attacks on a website for a candidate who was campaigning for a California congressional seat.
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An Ohio man was arrested for his operation of Helix, a Darknet-based cryptocurrency laundering service.
Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Dermot Shea, the Commissioner of the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”), announced today the arrest of TRISTAN ROWE, a/k/a “Angus,” for engaging in a years-long campaign of cyberstalking, harassment, and computer intrusions against multiple New York City residents and a high school. ROWE was arrested today in Tennessee and presented before a United States Magistrate Judge in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee. U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said: “As alleged, Tristan Rowe te
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A federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging four members of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) with hacking into the computer systems of the credit reporting agency Equifax and stealing Americans’ personal data and Equifax’s valuable trade secrets.
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Eric Eoin Marques, age 33, of Dublin, Ireland, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to advertise child pornography on the dark web. Marques, a dual national citizen of the United States and Ireland, was extradited by Irish authorities and arrived in the United States on March 23, 2019, to face federal criminal charges filed in Maryland on August 8, 2013.
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Anchorage, Alaska – U.S. Attorney Bryan Schroder announced that David Bukoski, 24, of Hanover Township, Pennsylvania, was recently sentenced for operating a long-running Denial of Service (DoS) for-hire service, known as Quantum Stress, which allowed paying users to conduct wide-ranging attacks on individual and corporate victim domains and networks, preventing them from being able to access the internet. In August 2019, Bukoski pleaded guilty as charged for aiding and abetting computer intrusions, and he was sentenced for his conduct on Feb. 4, 2020. Due to the large number of potential victi
WASHINGTON – Today, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Department of Justice announced that they have seized the internet domain name weleakinfo.com. The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu of the District of Columbia and Special Agent in Charge Timothy M. Dunham of the FBI’s Washington Field Office. The website had claimed to provide its users a search engine to review and obtain the personal information illegally obtained in over 10,000 data breaches containing over 12 billion indexed records – including, for example, names, email addresses, usernames, phone nu
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Indictment St. Louis – A United Kingdom national appeared today in federal court on charges of aggravated identity theft, threatening to damage a protected computer, and conspiring to commit those and other computer fraud offenses, related to his role in a computer hacking collective known as “The Dark Overlord,” which targeted victims in the St. Louis, Missouri, area beginning in 2016. Nathan Wyatt, 39, was extradited from the United Kingdom to the Eastern District of Missouri and arraigned on Dec. 18 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Shirley Padmore Mensah. He pleaded not guilty and was detained
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Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Peter C. Fitzhugh, the Special Agent in Charge of the New York Office of Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”), announced charges against HENRY PEREZ, ASHLEY GOMEZ, and MISTY ALIZETTE INFANTE for participating in a multi-year cellphone account takeover fraud conspiracy that impersonated legitimate cellphone accountholders to fraudulently obtain smartphones and electronic devices that were charged to compromised accounts. The scheme also caused a number of individual victims across the United States to
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Memphis, TN – A Nigerian citizen residing in Accra, Ghana, has been extradited to Memphis to stand trial for an indictment charging him with wire fraud, money laundering, computer fraud and aggravated identity theft. Assistant Attorney General Brian A Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant of the Western District of Tennessee, and Special Agent in Charge M.A. Myers of the FBI’s Memphis Field Office made the announcement. On Aug. 23, 2017, a federal grand jury in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee indicted Babatund
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A Nigerian citizen residing in Accra, Ghana, has been extradited to stand trial for an indictment charging him with wire fraud, money laundering, computer fraud and aggravated identity theft.
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The United States of America, through its Departments of Justice and State, and the United Kingdom, through its National Crime Agency (NCA), today announced the unsealing of criminal charges in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Lincoln, Nebraska, against Maksim V. Yakubets, aka online moniker, “aqua,” 32, of Moscow, Russia, related to two separate international computer hacking and bank fraud schemes spanning from May 2009 to the present. A second individual, Igor Turashev, 38, from Yoshkar-Ola, Russia, was also indicted in Pittsburgh for his role related to the “Bugat” malware conspiracy. The Sta
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Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Peter C. Fitzhugh, the Special Agent in Charge of the New York Office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”), announced today the filing of a criminal indictment against CHRISTIAN ERAZO for conspiring with others to commit wire fraud and computer intrusion, as well as committing aggravated identity theft, by hacking a music producer’s social networking account to impersonate the producer in order to solicit and obtain unreleased music from other artists, whi
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A criminal complaint was unsealed today in federal court in Brooklyn charging Lithuanian national Vytautas Parfionovas with computer intrusion, securities fraud, money laundering, bank fraud and wire fraud, among other offenses. The charged crimes stem from a variety of criminal conduct between 2011 and 2018 in which Parfionovas gained access to U.S.-based computers, including email servers and computers belonging to U.S. financial institutions, in order to steal money from online bank accounts and securities brokerage accounts.
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A citizen and resident of the Dominican Republic pleaded guilty today in Miami, Florida, to multiple criminal charges in connection with a sophisticated global cellphone fraud scheme that involved compromising cellphone customers’ accounts in the United States and “cloning” their phones to make fraudulent international calls.
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Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and William F. Sweeney Jr., Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced the arrest of RICHARD LIRIANO for installing a malicious software program known as a “keylogger” on dozens of his coworkers’ computers at a New York City area hospital, obtaining unauthorized access to his victims’ email, social media and other online accounts, and using that unauthorized access to steal private and confidential files. Using his victims’ stolen credentials,
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BOSTON – Two Massachusetts men were arrested today and charged with conducting an extensive scheme to take over victims’ social media accounts and steal their cryptocurrency using techniques such as “SIM swapping,” computer hacking and other methods.
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NEW ORLEANS – U.S. Attorney Peter G. Strasser announced that COLBI TRENT DEFIORE , age 27, a resident of Carriere, Mississippi, was charged November 7, 2019 by a federal grand jury in a one-count indictment with intentionally accessing a protected computer in excess of authorization for the purpose of commercial advantage and private financial gain, and in furtherance of the commission of a felony, in violation of 18 U.S.C. ' 1030(a)(2)(C). If convicted, DEFIORE faces a maximum term of imprisonment of five years, a fine of up to $250,000, three years supervised release after imprisonment, and
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WASHINGTON – Jong Woo Son, 23, a South Korean national, was indicted by a federal grand jury in the District of Columbia for his operation of Welcome To Video, the largest child sexual exploitation market by volume of content. The nine-count indictment was unsealed today along with a parallel civil forfeiture action. Son has also been charged and convicted in South Korea and is currently in custody serving his sentence in South Korea. An additional 337 site users residing in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New
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Seattle - A 14-count indictment was unsealed today charging a citizen of Singapore, HO JUN JIA, a/k/a Matthew Ho, 29, with federal crimes related to his scheme to mine cryptocurrencies using stolen computing power and services, obtained with the stolen identity and credit card account information of California and Texas residents, announced U.S. Attorney Brian T. Moran
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An Akron man was sentenced to six years in prison for launching denial of service attacks that shut down web sites for the city of Akron and the Akron Police Department. James Robinson, 33, previously pleaded guilty to damaging protected computers. U.S. District Judge Christopher Boyko also ordered Robinson to pay $668,684 in restitution. According to court documents filed in the case: Servers hosting web sites belonging to the city of Akron were victims of an active distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack on Aug. 1, 2017. Two website domains appeared to be the target of the attacks: akron
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Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel Silva and Colin McDonald (619) 546-9713 NEWS RELEASE SUMMARY – September 30, 2019 SAN DIEGO – Aidan Curry and Connor Brooke pleaded guilty in federal court today for conspiring to launder Dark Web proceeds through their unlicensed money transmitting business, which sold cryptocurrency to complete strangers in exchange for cash. As part of their guilty pleas, the defendants agreed to forfeit tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of cash, cryptocurrency, and high-end, sophisticated hardware including computers, phones, hard drives and storage devices that were invo
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NEWARK, N.J. - A Nigerian national extradited from Canada will appear in court today for his alleged role in a scheme that defrauded vendors of office products valued at nearly $1 million by “phishing” e-mail login information from government employees, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced. Olumide Ogunremi, a/k/a “Tony Williams,” was charged by indictment on Sept. 28, 2018, with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He was extradited to the District of New Jersey on Sept. 26, 2019, and appeared today before U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton in Newark federal court, where he ple
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Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that ANDREI TYURIN, a/k/a “Andrei Tiurin,” pled guilty in Manhattan federal court to computer intrusion, wire fraud, bank fraud, and illegal online gambling offenses in connection with his involvement in a massive computer hacking campaign targeting U.S. financial institutions, brokerage firms, financial news publishers, and other American companies. These hacks included one of the largest thefts of customer data from a U.S. financial institution in history. TYURIN is charged with committing t
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WASHINGTON – Federal authorities announced September 10, 2019 a significant coordinated effort to disrupt Business Email Compromise (BEC) schemes that are designed to intercept and hijack wire transfers from businesses and individuals, including many senior citizens. Operation reWired, a coordinated law enforcement effort by the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Department of the Treasury, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the U.S. Department of State, was conducted over a four-month period, resulting in 281 arrests in the United States and overseas, incl
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BOSTON – Seven Nigerian nationals were charged in indictments unsealed today in connection with their roles in expansive online fraud schemes targeting individuals and businesses in the United States, including phishing schemes, romance scams, business email compromise schemes, work-at-home scams, identity theft schemes, theft of personally identifiable information (PII) and credit card theft.
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A Lorain man was indicted in federal court for accessing his employer’s computer system after learning he would be fired and shutting down the web site, blocking access to email and taking other unauthorized actions. Austyn Keaton, 28, was charged with one count of damaging protected computers. According to the indictment: Keaton was the sole information technology employee for a company located in Avon Lake. Keaton gained access to emails of the company’s finance director and other employees. He learned the company planned to hire an outside vendor to take over IT operations from Keaton. Keat
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A former Seattle technology company software engineer was indicted today by a federal grand jury on two counts related to her unauthorized intrusion into stored data of more than 30 different companies, announced U.S. Attorney Brian T. Moran.
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LAS VEGAS, Nev. – A Venezuelan national was arraigned in federal court today for allegedly hacking into several ATM machines at a casino in Primm causing the machines to dispense large amounts of cash similar to a jackpot, announced United States Attorney Nicholas A. Trutanich for the District of Nevada.
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A 34-year-old citizen of Pakistan, who allegedly paid insiders at telecommunications giant AT&T to plant malware and otherwise misuse computer networks to unlock cellphones, made an initial appearance today on a 14-count federal indictment, announced U.S. Attorney Brian T. Moran.
A former Seattle technology company software engineer was arrested today on a criminal complaint charging computer fraud and abuse for an intrusion on the stored data of Capital One Financial Corporation, announced U.S. Attorney Brian T. Moran.
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A suburban Houston resident has been found guilty by a jury of 27 federal criminal charges for hacking into the Los Angeles Superior Court computer system and then using it to send approximately 2 million malicious phishing emails.
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Earlier today, in federal court in Brooklyn, Joseph P. Willner, a self-described day trader, pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit securities fraud and illegally profiting from a series of coordinated trades involving more than 50 hacked online brokerage accounts. The plea took place before United States District Judge Margo K. Brodie. When sentenced, Willner faces up to five years in prison, as well as forfeiture and a fine of up to twice the gross loss caused by the conspiracy.
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John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and Joseph W. Cronin, Inspector in Charge of the Boston Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, announced that LATRICE M. COLVIN, 32, of Bridgeport, waived her right to be indicted and pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton in New Haven to one count of mail fraud related to a credit card fraud scheme. According to court documents and statements made in court, between September 2015 and July 2017, Colvin used the internet, including the dark web, to obtain the personal identifying info o
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ALBANY, NEW YORK – A federal grand jury has indicted Jason “J.R.” Trowbridge, age 40; Guy Cuomo, age 51; Robin Chapin, age 61; Anna Hardy, age 66; and Shamair Brison, age 33, all of Frederick, Maryland; and Rebecca Fogle, age 25, of Woodsboro, Maryland, and Sarah Bromfield, age 39, of Hagerstown, Maryland, in connection with their alleged roles in a scheme to obtain unauthorized access to information from state government computers in order to sell this information to debt collectors. The announcement was made by United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith and Michael C. Mikulka, Special Agent in
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An indictment was unsealed on June 20, 2019, charging Bryan Connor Herrell, 24, with conspiring to engage in a racketeer influenced corrupt organization
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NEW ORLEANS – U.S. Attorney Peter G. Strasser announced that GARY PETER SIMON, JR. , age 56, a resident of Mandeville, Louisiana, was charged today in a one-count bill of information with intentionally accessing a protected computer without authorization and recklessly causing damage resulting in loss of more than $5,000 during one year, in violation of 18 U.S.C. '' 1030(a)(5)(B) and 1030(c)(4)(A). According to the bill of information, on about October 21, 2018, SIMON , intentionally accessed and attempted to access a protected computer without authorization, and as a result of such conduct, r
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WASHINGTON – A criminal indictment and four arrest warrants were unsealed today charging an American, a Slovenian, a Serbian, and a Spaniard with a racketeering conspiracy to develop and distribute malware through the major computer hacking forum known as Darkode. U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu for the District of Columbia, and John Selleck, Acting Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office made the announcement. Thomas McCormick, aka fubar, 26, of Washington state, in the United States; Matjaz Skorjanc, aka iserdo aka serdo, 32, of Maribor, Slovenia; Florencio Carro Ruiz,
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PITTSBURGH – A complex transnational organized cybercrime network that used GozNym malware in an attempt to steal an estimated $100 million from unsuspecting victims in the United States and around the world has been dismantled as part of an international law enforcement operation. GozNym infected tens of thousands of victim computers worldwide, primarily in the United States and Europe. The operation was highlighted by the unprecedented initiation of criminal prosecutions against members of the network in four different countries as a result of cooperation between the United States, Georgia,
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NEWARK, N.J. – A Nebraska man was arrested today for allegedly selling one of his employer’s databases, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced. Timothy Young, 49, of Moorefield, Nebraska, is charged by complaint with one count of wire fraud. He is scheduled to make his initial appearance May 17, 2019, before U.S. Magistrate Judge F.A. Gossett III, in Omaha, Nebraska, federal court. According to documents filed in this case: Young was employed at a data analytics and risk assessment firm based on New Jersey. The company serves customers worldwide, including entities providing insurance and fin
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A Savannah woman was charged with cashing out funds from other people’s retirement accounts that were diverted to her bank.
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Six individuals connected to a hacking group known to its members as “The Community” were charged in a fifteen count indictment unsealed today with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, announced United States Attorney Matthew Schneider. In addition, a criminal complaint was unsealed charging three former employees of mobile phone providers with wire fraud in relation to the conspiracy. Schneider was joined in the announcement by Acting Special Agent in Charge Angie Salazar of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations
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A federal grand jury returned an indictment unsealed today in Indianapolis, Indiana, charging a Chinese national as part of an extremely sophisticated hacking group operating in China and targeting large businesses in the United States, including a computer intrusion and data breach of Indianapolis-based health insurer Anthem Inc. (Anthem).
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WASHINGTON – A federal grand jury returned an indictment unsealed today in Indianapolis, Indiana, charging a Chinese national as part of an extremely sophisticated hacking group operating in China and targeting large businesses in the United States, including a computer intrusion and data breach of Indianapolis-based health insurer Anthem Inc. (Anthem). Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Josh Minkler for the Southern District of Indiana, Assistant Director Matt Gorham of the FBI’s Cyber Division and Special Agent in Char
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PITTSBURGH - United States Attorney Scott W. Brady announced today the alleged owners and operators of a website known as DeepDotWeb (DDW) have been arrested on charges of money laundering conspiracy relating to millions of dollars in kickbacks they received for purchases of fentanyl, heroin, and other illegal contraband by individuals referred to Darknet marketplaces by DDW. The website has now been seized by court order. In an indictment unsealed today, Tal Prihar, 37, an Israeli citizen residing in Brazil, and Michael Phan, 34, an Israeli citizen residing in Israel, were charged on April 24
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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Following a nearly two-year international investigation involving U.S. law enforcement and authorities in Germany and the Netherlands, federal prosecutors have charged three German nationals with being the administrators of Wall Street Market (WSM), which was one of the world’s largest dark web marketplaces that allowed vendors to sell a wide variety of contraband, including an array of illegal narcotics, counterfeit goods and malicious computer hacking software. A Brazilian national was also charged for allegedly acting as a moderator for WSM. A criminal complaint filed W
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A Ukrainian national charged with participating in a years-long, international scheme to infect computers with malware through online advertisements – so-called “malvertising” – will appear in Newark, New Jersey federal court today after being extradited from the Netherlands, Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito for the District of New Jersey announced.
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Following a nearly two-year international investigation involving U.S. law enforcement and authorities in Germany and the Netherlands, federal prosecutors have charged three German nationals with being the administrators of Wall Street Market (WSM), which was one of the world’s largest dark web marketplaces that allowed vendors to sell a wide variety of contraband, including an array of illegal narcotics, counterfeit goods and malicious computer hacking software.
Official actionIndictmentExtradition
NEWARK, N.J. – A Ukrainian national charged with participating in a years-long, international scheme to infect computers with malware through online advertisements – so-called “malvertising” – will appear in Newark federal court today after being extradited from the Netherlands, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito for the District of New Jersey and Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division announced. Oleksii Petrovich Ivanov, 31, is charged by indictment with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, four counts of wire fraud, and one count of
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Earlier today in federal court in Brooklyn, an indictment was returned charging Anton P. Bogdanov, a citizen of Russia, with wire fraud conspiracy, aggravated identity theft and computer intrusion in connection with a scheme in which he and others used stolen personal information to file federal tax returns and fraudulently obtain more than $1.5 million in tax refunds from the Internal Revenue Service.
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Earlier today, in federal court in Brooklyn, Djevair Ametovski, a Macedonian citizen, was sentenced by United States District Judge Eric N. Vitaliano to 90 months’ imprisonment after previously pleading guilty to access device fraud and aggravated identity theft. Those crimes related to Ametovski’s operation of “Codeshop,” a website he created for the sole purpose of selling stolen credit and debit card data, bank account credentials and personal identification information. Judge Vitaliano also ordered the defendant to forfeit $250,000 and to pay restitution in an amount to be determined by th
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Julian P. Assange, 47, the founder of WikiLeaks, was arrested today in the United Kingdom pursuant to the U.S./UK Extradition Treaty, in connection with a federal charge of conspiracy to commit computer intrusion for agreeing to break a password to a classified U.S. government computer.
Official actionSeizureSentencing
John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that MICHAEL RICHO, 37, of New Haven and formerly of Wallingford, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Vanessa L. Bryant in Hartford to 12 months and one day of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for fraud and money laundering offenses in connection with a scheme to steal bitcoins in an online phishing scheme. Judge Bryant also ordered Richo to pay a $10,000 fine and to forfeit various computers and electronic devices, an assortment of precious coins and metals that he bought with
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PENSACOLA, FLORIDA – Timothy J. Smith, 42, of Mobile, Alabama, was arraigned today in the U.S. District Court in Pensacola after a federal grand jury returned an indictment, unsealed today, charging him with computer fraud, theft of trade secrets, and interstate threatening communications. Lawrence Keefe, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida, announced the indictment.
Official actionSeizureSentencingConviction
Vitaly Korchevsky, a former hedge fund manager, was sentenced in federal court in Brooklyn today by United States District Judge Raymond J. Dearie to 60 months’ imprisonment for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud and computer intrusion, conspiracy to commit money laundering and two counts of securities fraud. The Court also ordered Korchevsky to pay $14.4 million in forfeiture and a $250,000 fine. Co-defendant Vladislay Khalupsky, a securities trader, was convicted of the same charges, and was sentenced on January 11, 2019 to 48 months’ imprisonment.
Official actionTakedownSentencingGuilty plea
An Akron man pleaded guilty to launching denial of service attacks that shut down web sites for the city of Akron and the Akron Police Department. James Robinson, 33, is scheduled to be sentenced July 1. He pleaded guilty to damaging protected computers. According to court documents filed in the case: Servers hosting web sites belonging to the city of Akron were victims of an active distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack on Aug. 1, 2017. Two website domains appeared to be the target of the attacks: akronohio.gov and akroncops.org. The DDoS attack ultimately overwhelmed the web sites with
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ALBANY, NEW YORK – Vishwanath Akuthota, age 26, of Albany, was arrested on February 22 in North Carolina after being charged with intentionally causing damage to protected computers owned by The College of Saint Rose in Albany. The announcement was made by United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith; Chief Eric Hawkins of the Albany Police Department (APD); and James N. Hendricks, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). According to a criminal complaint, on February 14, 2019, Akuthota entered numerous locations around the Saint Rose campus a
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A Florida man has been indicted on two counts of wire fraud for his role in a scheme to steal money from Crowley Independent School District.
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WASHINGTON – Monica Elfriede Witt, 39, a former U.S. service member and counterintelligence agent, has been indicted by a federal grand jury in the District of Columbia for conspiracy to deliver and delivering national defense information to representatives of the Iranian government. Witt, who defected to Iran in 2013, is alleged to have assisted Iranian intelligence services in targeting her former fellow agents in the U.S. Intelligence Community (USIC). Witt is also alleged to have disclosed the code name and classified mission of a U.S. Department of Defense Special Access Program. An arres
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Federal authorities today arrested one of two defendants charged in a federal indictment with making false threats of violent attacks at many locations – including Los Angeles International Airport and numerous Southern California school districts – and staging attacks on computer systems belonging to institutions and companies, including a Long Beach-based company.
Official actionIndictmentDisruptionExtradition
Twelve Foreign Nationals Extradited to the United States WASHINGTON – According to court documents unsealed today, 20 people, including 16 foreign nationals, have been charged for their roles in an international organized crime group that defrauded American victims through online auction fraud causing millions of dollars in losses. Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Robert M. Duncan, Jr. of the Eastern District of Kentucky, Director Randolph D. Alles of the U.S. Secret Service (USSS), Commissioner Richard W. Sanders of t
Official actionIndictment
BOSTON – A Brockton man was indicted today in federal court in Boston in connection with an August 2018 computer intrusion of a Massachusetts company.
Official actionDisruption
The Justice Department today announced an extensive effort to map and further disrupt, through victim notifications, the Joanap botnet – a global network of numerous infected computers under the control of North Korean hackers that was used to facilitate other malicious cyber activities.
Official actionIndictmentSentencingExtradition
A former West Palm Beach, Florida resident who was extradited to the United States from the Dominican Republic was sentenced to 65 months in prison today for multiple criminal charges in connection with a sophisticated global cell phone fraud scheme that involved compromising cellphone customers’ accounts and “cloning” their phones to make fraudulent international calls.
Official actionSeizureTakedown
Tampa, Florida - U.S. Attorney Maria Chapa Lopez, along with Special Agent in Charge Eric Sporre, FBI-Tampa Division, and Special Agent in Charge Mary Hammond, IRS-Criminal Investigation, today announced the seizure of the xDedic Marketplace, a website that operated for years and was used to sell access to compromised computers worldwide and to personally identifiable information of U.S. residents. The xDedic administrators strategically maintained servers all over the world to facilitate the operation of the website.
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NEWARK, N.J. – Two Ukrainian men have been charged for their roles in a large-scale, international conspiracy to hack into the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) computer systems and profit by trading on critical information they stole, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced today. In a 16-count indictment unsealed today Artem Radchenko, 27, and Oleksandr Ieremenko, 26, both of Kiev, Ukraine, are charged with securities fraud conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy, computer fraud conspiracy, wire fraud, and computer fraud. The SEC also filed a civil complaint today charging Ieremenko along
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Rod J. Rosenstein, the Deputy Attorney General of the United States, Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Christopher A. Wray, the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), Dermot F. O’Reilly, Director of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (“DCIS”) of the U.S. Department of Defense, and John C. Demers, the Assistant Attorney General for National Security, announced today the unsealing of an indictment charging ZHU HUA (朱华), a/k/a “Afwar,” a/k/a “CVNX,” a/k/a “Alayos,” a/k/a “Godkiller,” and ZHANG SHILONG (张士龙), a/k/a “Baob
Official actionIndictmentSeizure
The Justice Department today announced the seizure of 15 internet domains associated with DDoS-for-hire services, as well as criminal charges against three defendants who facilitated the computer attack platforms.
Official actionIndictmentSeizure
Anchorage, Alaska – U.S. Attorney Bryan Schroder announced today the seizure of an internet domain associated with DDoS-for-hire services, as well as criminal charges against a Pennsylvania man who facilitated the computer attack platform. This case was brought as part of an FBI investigation that led to the seizure of 15 websites, resulting in criminal charges filed from the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the District of Alaska and the Central District of California. The sites, which offered what are often called “booter” or “stresser” services, allowed paying users to launch powerful distribute
Official actionArrestSentencingExtradition
PITTSBURGH, Pa. - A resident of Moldova has been sentenced in federal court to time served on his conviction of conspiracy and damaging a computer, United States Attorney Scott W. Brady announced today. United States District Judge Bissoon imposed the sentence on Andrey Ghinkul, aka Andrei Ghincul, aka Smilex, 31, of Moldova. Ghinkul had been arrested in Cyprus in August of 2015 and extradited to the United States in February 2016. According to information presented to the court, the defendant was part of a criminal conspiracy that disseminated the Bugat malware, used malware to steal banking
Official actionIndictment
A federal grand jury in Atlanta has returned an indictment charging Faramarz Shahi Savandi and Mohammed Mehdi Shah Mansouri with committing a sophisticated ransomware attack on the City of Atlanta in March 2018 in violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
Official actionIndictmentSentencing
OKLAHOMA CITY – DAVID CHESLEY GOODYEAR , 44, of El Segundo, California, has been sentenced to 26 months in prison for directing distributed-denial-of-service (DDoS) cyber attacks against two websites owned by Oklahoma telescope retailer Astronomics in August 2016, announced Robert J. Troester of the U.S. Attorney’s Office. In August 2017, a federal grand jury charged Goodyear with attacking the websites of Astronomics, a family-owned telescope retailer in Norman, Oklahoma. He instigated a DDoS cyber attack, in which the perpetrator floods the victim’s computer with useless information from bot
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ALBANY, NEW YORK – A federal grand jury has indicted Tyler King, age 29, of Grand Prairie, Texas, for conspiring to access and install malicious software on a technology company’s computer network The announcement was made by United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith and James N. Hendricks, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). According to the indictment, King conspired with Ashley St. Andria to gain unauthorized access to the computer network of a New York-based technology company. The conspiracy involved creating unauthorized network
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PITTSBURGH - A Russian national has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh on charges of wire fraud, computer fraud and money laundering, United States Attorney Scott W. Brady announced today. The five-count indictment, returned on Nov. 27, named Ilya Kulkov, of Barnaul, Russia, as the sole defendant. According to the indictment presented to the Court, between January 22, 2017 and February 2, 2017, Kulkov hacked into a desktop computer located at the Pittsburgh National Golf Course in Gibsonia, Pennsylvania, from his home in Russia. Once Kulkov had control of Pittsburgh National’s
Official actionIndictment
NEWARK, N.J. – An indictment returned by a federal grand jury was unsealed today in Newark, charging Faramarz Shahi Savandi, 34, and Mohammad Mehdi Shah Mansouri, 27, both of Iran, in a 34-month-long international computer hacking and extortion scheme involving the deployment of sophisticated ransomware, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito for the District of New Jersey, Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein, Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, and Executive Assistant Director Amy S. Hess of the FBI announced. The six-count indictment al
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“The Iranian defendants allegedly used hacking and malware to cause more than $30 million in losses to more than 200 victims,” said Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein. “According to the indictment, the hackers infiltrated computer systems in 10 states and Canada and then demanded payment. The criminal activity harmed state agencies, city governments, hospitals, and countless innocent victims.”
Official actionArrestIndictmentDisruption
A 13-count indictment was unsealed today in federal court in Brooklyn charging Aleksandr Zhukov, Boris Timokhin, Mikhail Andreev, Denis Avdeev, Dmitry Novikov, Sergey Ovsyannikov, Aleksandr Isaev and Yevgeniy Timchenko with criminal violations for their involvement in perpetrating widespread digital advertising fraud. The charges include wire fraud, computer intrusion, aggravated identity theft and money laundering. Ovsyannikov was arrested last month in Malaysia; Zhukov was arrested earlier this month in Bulgaria; and Timchenko was arrested earlier this month in Estonia, all pursuant to provi
Official actionIndictmentGuilty plea
A former West Palm Beach, Florida resident pleaded guilty today to multiple criminal charges in connection with a sophisticated global cell phone fraud scheme that involved compromising cellphone customers’ accounts and “cloning” their phones to make fraudulent international calls.
ALBUQUERQUE – Michael Weber, 22, of Alamogordo, N.M, made his initial appearance this afternoon in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., on a criminal complaint charging him with a computer fraud offense. Weber remains in federal custody pending a preliminary hearing and a detention hearing, both of which are scheduled for tomorrow. FBI agents arrested Weber early this morning at a residence in Alamogordo. According to the criminal complaint, Weber allegedly placed a program, information, code, or command known as a “spam bot” onto a government-issued cellular phone assigned to Weber’s superviso
Official actionSeizureSentencing
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Colton Grubbs, 21, of Stanford, Kentucky, was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison, by United States District Judge Joseph M. Hood, for conspiracy to unlawfully access computers in furtherance of a criminal act, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and the illegal removal of property to prevent its lawful seizure. Grubbs previously admitted to designing, marketing, and selling a software, called LuminosityLink, that Grubbs knew would be used by some customers to remotely access and control their victims’ computers without the victims’ knowledge or consent. Among other ma
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BOSTON – A Brockton man was charged yesterday in connection with the August 2018 computer intrusion of a Massachusetts company.
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PITTSBURGH – United States Attorney Scott W. Brady announced today that seven Russians were indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh on charges relating to a criminal hacking campaign that included the theft and public dissemination of private medical records of 250 athletes, including U.S. Olympic athletes. According to the indictment, the Russian hackers targeted the athletes and major anti-doping organizations in retaliation for a ban on Russian athletes due to Russia’s state sponsored doping program. The Russian hacking also targeted western Pennsylvania employees of the Westinghouse
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WASHINGTON – A volunteer on the staff of a member of the U.S. House of Representatives made his first court appearance today on charges stemming from the illegal posting of restricted personal information of five U.S. Senators on the Wikipedia website, as well as related conduct.
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A grand jury in the Western District of Pennsylvania has indicted seven defendants, all officers in the Russian Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU), a military intelligence agency of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, for computer hacking, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and money laundering.
Official actionIndictmentConviction
United States Attorney Erica H. MacDonald today announced a federal indictment charging BARTON GEORGE SCOTT, 35, with child pornography and computer hacking offenses. SCOTT made his initial appearance on September 25, 2018, before Magistrate Judge David T. Schultz in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis, Minnesota. As alleged in the indictment, between April 30 and August 8, 2017, SCOTT gained unauthorized access to the Snapchat accounts of 25 victims. In several cases, SCOTT used extortionate tactics in an attempt to obtain sexually explicit images and videos from the victims, many of whom were
Official actionGuilty plea
Peter Yuryevich Levashov, aka “Petr Levashov,” “Peter Severa,” “Petr Severa” and “Sergey Astakhov,” 38, of St. Petersburg, Russia, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Hartford, Connecticut, to offenses stemming from his operation of the Kelihos botnet, which he used to facilitate malicious activities including harvesting login credentials, distributing bulk spam e-mails, and installing ransomware and other malicious software. Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney John H. Durham of the District of Connecticut and
Official actionArrestExtradition
Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, William F. Sweeney, Jr., the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), and David E. Beach, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service New York Field Office (“USSS”) announced today that ANDREI TYURIN, a/k/a “Andrei Tiurin,” was extradited from the country of Georgia. TYURIN was arrested by Georgian authorities at the request of the United States for charges arising from his participation in a massive computer hacking campaign targeting U.
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A criminal complaint was unsealed today charging Park Jin Hyok (박진혁; a/k/a Jin Hyok Park and Pak Jin Hek), a North Korean citizen, for his involvement in a conspiracy to conduct multiple destructive cyberattacks around the world resulting in damage to massive amounts of computer hardware, and the extensive loss of data, money and other resources (the “Conspiracy”). The complaint alleges that Park was a member of a government-sponsored hacking team known to the private sector as the “Lazarus Group,” and worked for a North Korean government front company, Chosun Expo Joint Venture (a/k/a Korea E
Federal authorities this morning arrested a Los Angeles man on federal charges that allege he targeted seven women with online threats to publish nude photos unless the victims provided him with additional explicit pictures.
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SAN FRANCISCO – Martin Marsich made an initial appearance today on a criminal complaint charging him with crimes related to the illegal intrusion of the computer network of a Bay Area video-game company, announced United States Attorney Alex G. Tse and Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge John F. Bennett. The allegations against Marsich, 25, whose last known residence was in Udine, Italy, and who possessed passports from both Serbia and Italy, are set out in an affidavit by an agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation filed this morning in connection with the criminal com
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SAN JOSE - A federal grand jury in San Jose indicted Travis Cole Malone, Jr., on July 12, 2018, for conspiracy to commit computer fraud and abuse and for causing the transmission of code to damage protected computers, announced United States Attorney Alex G. Tse and Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge John F. Bennett. According to the indictment unsealed today, Malone, 20, of McAlester, Okla., is alleged to have coded and developed the “Medusa IRC Botnet DDoS” malicious software (“malware”). When installed on a victim computer, the malware joined the victim computer to a “b
Actor profile: Medusa
SEATTLE – Three high-ranking members of a sophisticated international cybercrime group operating out of Eastern Europe have been arrested and are currently in custody facing charges filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle, announced U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes.
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WICHITA, KAN. – A Wichita lawyer and a computer software engineer were charged today in a federal indictment alleging they were responsible for cyberattacks on web sites that posted information critical of the lawyer’s work, U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister said. Wichita Attorney Bradley A. Pistotnik , 62, and David Dorsett, 36, Wichita, Kan., are charged with five counts of computer fraud and two counts of conspiracy. In addition, Pistotnik is charged with three counts of making false statements to the FBI. The indictment alleges Pistonik and Dorsett are responsible for cyberattacks on Leagle
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Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that GARY DAVIS, a/k/a “Libertas,” was extradited from the Republic of Ireland to the United States. DAVIS was arrested in January 2014 for charges arising out of his role as a member of the administrative staff of “Silk Road.” During its operation from 2011 until 2013, Silk Road was used by thousands of drug dealers and other unlawful vendors to distribute illegal drugs and other illicit goods and services to more than 100,000 buyers, and to launder hundreds of millions of dollars derived fro
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The Department of Justice today announced that a grand jury in the District of Columbia returned an indictment presented by the Special Counsel’s Office. The indictment charges twelve Russian nationals for committing federal crimes that were intended to interfere with the 2016 U.S. presidential election. All twelve defendants are members of the GRU, a Russian Federation intelligence agency within the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Russian military. These GRU officers, in their official capacities, engaged in a sustained effort to hack into the computer networks of the Democratic Congress
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CONTACT: Barbara Burns PHONE: (716) 843-5817 FAX: (716) 551-3051 ROCHESTER, N.Y.—U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Justin Potts, 36, of Rochester, NY, was charged by criminal complaint with unauthorized access of a protected computer. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa M. Marangola, who is handling the case, stated that according to the complaint, in March 2017, the Rochester Police Department alerted the FBI’S Cyber Task Force about the defendant who had been arrested for using his mobile phone
Official actionArrestDisruption
Memphis, TN – In accordance with the Justice Department’s recent efforts to disrupt business email compromise (BEC) schemes that are designed to intercept and hijack wire transfers from businesses and individuals, including many senior citizens, the Department announced Operation Keyboard Warrior, an effort coordinated by United States and international law enforcement to disrupt online frauds perpetrated from Africa. Eight individuals have been arrested for their roles in a widespread, Africa-based cyber conspiracy that allegedly defrauded U.S. companies and citizens of approximately $15 mill
Official actionIndictmentGuilty plea
John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that ARGENYS RODRIGUEZ, 22, of Springfield, Massachusetts, waived his right to be indicted and pleaded guilty today in Hartford federal court to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud stemming from an ATM “jackpotting” scheme. According to court documents and statements made in court, law enforcement agencies and ATM manufacturers have been investigating malware attacks on ATM machines in Connecticut and elsewhere. In a scheme commonly referred to as “jackpotting,” individuals use malware that is designed t
Official actionIndictmentExtradition
Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, James D. Robnett, the Special Agent-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (“IRS-CI”), William F. Sweeney Jr., Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), and Angel M. Melendez, Special Agent-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”), announced today the unsealing of an Indictment charging ROGER THOMAS CLARK, w
Official actionArrestIndictmentDisruption
PITTSBURGH, PA – United States Attorney Scott W. Brady announced today the arrest of Taiwo Musiliudeen Idris by law enforcement authorities in Nigeria. Idris was charged today by criminal complaint in the Western District of Pennsylvania with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering as part of a Business Email Compromise (BEC) scheme. The arrest was made public following an announcement by federal authorities of a significant coordinated effort to disrupt BEC schemes designed to intercept and highjack wire transfers from businesses and individuals, including many senior citizens. Acc
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Matthew D. Krueger, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, announced that on June 5, 2018, a federal grand jury returned a ten-count superseding indictment against Marcus Hutchins, also known as “Malwaretech,” and “irp@jabber.se,” related to creating and distributing the Kronos banking Trojan and UPAS Kit malware. The original six-count indictment was returned against Hutchins on July 11, 2017, following a two-year investigation. Hutchins, a citizen and resident of the United Kingdom, was arrested in the United States on August 2, 2017, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Hutchins ple
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United States Attorney Gregory G. Brooker today announced a five-count indictment charging CAMERON THOMAS CROWLEY, a/k/a “Vigilance,” 19, with intentional access to a protected computer, intentional damage to a protected computer, and aggravated identity theft. CROWLEY made his initial appearance earlier this afternoon before United States Magistrate Judge Becky R. Thorson in Saint Paul, Minnesota. CROWLEY will remain in federal custody pending his detention hearing. According to the indictment, between May 28, 2017 and June 17, 2017, CROWLEY intentionally gained unauthorized access to protect
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Five members of a fraud ring charged with compromising the internal gift card system of major national retailer, Target Corporation, and defrauding the retailer and its legitimate customers of almost $800,000 have been indicted on wire fraud charges by a federal grand jury in Seattle, announced U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes.
Official actionArrestIndictmentSeizure
2 suburban Chicago residents arrested for illegally selling drugs online.
Official actionDisruption
The Justice Department today announced an effort to disrupt a global botnet of hundreds of thousands of infected home and office (SOHO) routers and other networked devices under the control of a group of actors known as the “Sofacy Group” (also known as “apt28,” “sandworm,” “x-agent,” “pawn storm,” “fancy bear” and “sednit”). The group, which has been operating since at least in or about 2007, targets government, military, security organizations, and other targets of perceived intelligence value.
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A federal grand jury returned an 11-count indictment today charging two Syrian men with offenses relating to their participation in a conspiracy to engage in computer hacking as members of the “Syrian Electronic Army” or “SEA.”
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John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, Patricia M. Ferrick, Special Agent in Charge of the New Haven Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Kristina O’Connell, Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation in New England, announced that a federal grand jury in New Haven returned an indictment today charging OLUKAYODE IBRAHIM LAWAL , 35, a citizen of Nigeria residing in Smyrna, Georgia, with fraud and identity theft offenses stemming from a scheme to obtain the personal identifying information of school employees in Connecticut and elsewher
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Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and William F. Sweeney Jr., the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced today the arrest of BILLY RIBEIRO ANDERSON, a/k/a “Anderson Albuquerque,” a/k/a “AlfabetoVirtual.” ANDERSON was charged with three separate counts of computer fraud for obtaining unauthorized access to and committing defacements of the websites for the Combating Terrorism Center at the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York (“West Point”), and the
Official actionArrestIndictmentTakedown
An Akron man was arrested this morning and charged in federal court for launching denial of service attacks that shut down web sites for the city of Akron and the Akron Police Department. James Robinson, 32, was charged with one count of knowingly causing the transmission of a program, information, code and command, and as a result of such conduct, intentionally causing damage to a protected computer. According to an affidavit filed in the case: Servers hosting web sites belonging to the city of Akron were victims of an active distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack on Aug. 1, 2017. Two we
Official actionIndictmentGuilty plea
A Newton, Massachusetts man, who was charged with conducting an extensive cyberstalking campaign against his former housemate, her family members, co-workers, friends, and others, pleaded guilty today in federal court in Boston to all charges in a 25-count Information.
Official actionIndictmentGuilty plea
BOSTON - A Newton man, who was charged with conducting an extensive cyberstalking campaign against his former housemate, her family members, co-workers, friends, and others, pleaded guilty today in federal court in Boston to 25 offenses.
Official actionIndictmentExtradition
Two international computer hackers, Teodor Laurentiu Costea and Robert Codrut Dumitrescu, were extradited from Romania and arraigned on federal charges of wire fraud conspiracy, wire fraud, computer fraud and abuse, and aggravated identity theft. A federal grand jury returned the 31-count superseding indictment on August 16, 2017. Cosmin Draghici, another co-defendant, is in custody in Romania awaiting extradition to the U.S.
Official actionSeizureSentencing
An Ypsilanti resident was sentenced today to 87 months in prison for damaging a protected computer, United States Attorney Matthew Schneider announced. Joining Schneider in the announcement was Timothy R. Slater, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation. Receiving the sentence was Konrads Voits, age 27. The sentence was imposed by United States District Judge Robert H. Cleland who also ordered restitution in the amount of $238,517 to be paid to Washtenaw County and a 3-year term of supervised release. As part of the sentencing, Voits forfeited all interests he had in some bitco
Official actionIndictmentGuilty plea
John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and Patricia M. Ferrick, Special Agent in Charge of the New Haven Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, announced that OLUMUYIWA YAHTRIP ADEJUMO , also known as “Ade,” “Slimwaco,” “Waco,” “Waco Jamon,” “Hade” and “Hadey,” 32, of Toledo, Ohio, waived his right to be indicted and pleaded guilty today in New Haven federal court to a fraud offense stemming from his role in a business e-mail compromise scheme. According to court documents and statements made in court, ADEJUMO, his co-conspirator Adeyemi Odufuye and o
Official actionIndictmentSentencingGuilty plea
Anchorage, Alaska – U.S. Attorney Bryan Schroder announced today that a former airline employee has been sentenced in federal court for hacking PenAir’s ticketing and reservation system between April and May 2017. Suzette Kugler, 59, of Desert Hot Springs, California, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Sharon L. Gleason, to serve five years of probation, and 250 hours of community service. Kugler, who has no prior criminal history, previously pleaded guilty as charged to the felony offense on Jan. 26, 2018, to one count of fraud in connection with computers. As part of the plea agreeme
Official actionIndictmentGuilty plea
John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that GEORGE GAROFANO, 26, of North Branford, waived his right to be indicted and pleaded guilty yesterday before U.S. District Judge Victor A. Bolden in Bridgeport to a computer hacking offense related to a phishing scheme that gave him illegal access to more than 200 Apple iCloud accounts, many of which belonged to members of the entertainment industry. This matter stems from an investigation conducted by the FBI in Los Angeles into the leaks of photographs of numerous female celebrities in September 2014.
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An accused computer hacker sought by the United States was recently returned to the United States to stand trial. On March 30, 2018, Yevgeniy Aleksandrovich Nikulin, 30, of Moscow, Russia, made his initial appearance in federal court, following his extradition from the Czech Republic. He was charged by the United States in 2016 with illegally accessing computers belonging to LinkedIn, Dropbox, and Formspring. Nikulin was arrested in October 2016, pursuant to a U.S.-issued INTERPOL Red Notice processed by INTERPOL Washington—the U.S. National Central Bureau. He had been in the custody of the Cz
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Boston - A Newton man, who was arrested and charged in October 2017 for conducting an extensive cyberstalking campaign against his former housemate, was charged today in federal court in Boston with an additional 24 offenses.
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St. Louis, MO – Omar Leigh and Kolley Touray were indicted on multiple fraud counts involving a conspiracy to commit bank and mail fraud and aggravated identity theft. According to court documents, the purpose of the conspiracy was to profit from the use of stolen Bank of America customers’ personal identifying information that they had purchased from the Dark Web. Leigh used the bank’s automated telephone service to request that the bank mail new credit cards and new personal identification numbers, “PINs,” to the addresses on file for the customers. Through use of software that allowed them
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Rod J. Rosenstein, the Deputy Attorney General of the United States, Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, William F. Sweeney Jr., the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), and John C. Demers, Assistant Attorney General for National Security, announced today the unsealing of an indictment charging GHOLAMREZA RAFATNEJAD, EHSAN MOHAMMADI, ABDOLLAH KARIMA, a/k/a “Vahid Karima,” MOSTAFA SADEGHI, SEYED ALI MIRKARIMI, MOHAMMED REZA SABAHI, ROOZBEH SABAHI, ABUZAR GOHARI MOQADAM, and S
Official actionArrestIndictment
Earlier today, in federal court in Brooklyn, an indictment was unsealed charging Joshua Philips, also known as “Erick Ayo Kalu,” “Anthony Abongile Baker” and “Johnson Foday Brown,” with conspiring to commit wire and bank fraud and conspiring to commit money laundering, in connection with several business email compromise and confidence fraud scams. Philips was arrested on March 7, 2018, in the Northern District of Georgia and was arraigned this afternoon before United States Magistrate Judge Linda T. Walker at the federal courthouse in Atlanta, Georgia.
Official actionIndictmentSentencingGuilty plea
Anchorage, Alaska – U.S. Attorney Bryan Schroder announced that an Anchorage man was sentenced in federal court yesterday for cyberstalking his former girlfriend while on release after being charged with physically assaulting the same victim. Jeffery Ray Ward, 41, of Anchorage, was sentenced yesterday by Chief U.S. District Judge Timothy M. Burgess, to serve 40 months in prison, followed by a three-year term of supervised release. Ward previously pleaded guilty on Sept. 27, 2017, to one count of cyberstalking in violation of a domestic violence protective order. Ward had been previously convic
Official actionIndictment
A Houston, Texas man was indicted today on multiple felony counts for allegedly staging a phishing attack that used the Los Angeles County Superior Court (LASC) computer system.
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LAS VEGAS, Nev. – A federal indictment was unsealed today charging 36 individuals for their alleged roles in the Infraud Organization, an Internet-based cybercriminal enterprise engaged in the large-scale acquisition, sale, and dissemination of stolen identities, compromised debit and credit cards, personally identifiable information, financial and banking information, computer malware, and other contraband.
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New Haven, Conn. – A Russian national has been extradited from Spain and will be arraigned later today in Connecticut on charges stemming from his alleged operation of the Kelihos botnet – a global network of tens of thousands of infected computers, which he allegedly used to facilitate malicious activities including harvesting login credentials, distributing bulk spam e-mails, and installing ransomware and other malicious software, the Department of Justice announced today. Acting Assistant Attorney General John P. Cronan of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney John H. Du
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Assistant U. S. Attorney Sabrina Feve (619) 546-6786 NEWS RELEASE SUMMARY – January 19, 2018 SAN DIEGO – Victor Alejandro Fernandez was sentenced in federal court today to 129 months in custody for his involvement in a conspiracy to steal and misuse mortgage customers’ sensitive personal information. Fernandez was charged along with Jason Ray Bailey, John Gordon Baden and Joel Nava with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and computer hacking. Fernandez was also charged with aggravated identity theft. All four defendants have pleaded guilty. According to charging and sentencing documents, between
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A Connecticut man was charged today in federal court with a felony computer hacking offense related to a phishing scheme that gave him illegal access to over 250 Apple iCloud accounts, many of which belonged to members of the entertainment industry in Los Angeles.
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An Ohio man was charged in a 16-count indictment today for allegedly creating and installing malware on thousands of computers for more than 13 years in order to watch, listen to, and obtain personal data from unknowing victims, as well as produce child pornography.
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A North Royalton man was charged in a 16-count indictment today for allegedly creating and installing malware on thousands of computers for more than 13 years in order to watch, listen to, and obtain personal data from unknowing victims, as well as produce child pornography. Acting Assistant Attorney General John P. Cronan of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, First Assistant U.S. Attorney David A. Sierleja for the Northern District of Ohio, and Special Agent in Charge Stephen D. Anthony of the FBI’s Cleveland Field Office made the announcement. Phillip R. Durachinsky, 28, was charged
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WASHINGTON – A criminal complaint and arrest warrants were unsealed today charging two Romanian nationals with a conspiracy to illegally access approximately 123 computers associated with Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) surveillance cameras and to use those computers in connection with a scheme to distribute ransomware in January 2017.
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John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and Patricia M. Ferrick, Special Agent in Charge of the New Haven Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, today announced that two Nigerian nationals have been charged with various federal offenses stemming from a business e-mail compromise scheme. OLUMUYIWA YAHTRIP ADEJUMO , also known as “Ade,” “Slimwaco,” “Waco,” “Waco Jamon,” “Hade” and “Hadey,” 32, was arrested on a federal criminal complaint on November 16, 2017, in Toledo, Ohio, where he was living as a lawful permanent resident of the U.S. The complaint ch
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IT Specialist charged with hacking north suburban company's servers.
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Joon H. Kim, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and David E. Beach, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service, New York Field Office (“USSS”), announced charges today against 13 individuals in connection with a scheme to defraud drivers of two ride-sharing companies (“Company-1” and “Company-2”) by accessing those drivers’ accounts without authorization in order to divert driver funds to bank accounts controlled by the defendants and other members of the scheme (the “Scheme”). Through the course of the Scheme, the defendants compromised thousands
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Karim Baratov, aka Kay, aka Karim Taloverov, aka Karim Akehmet Tokbergenov, 22, a Canadian national and resident, pleaded guilty today, to charges returned by a grand jury in the Northern District of California in February 2017. Baratov and three other defendants, including two officers of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), Russia’s domestic law enforcement and intelligence service, were charged with computer hacking and other criminal offenses in connection with a conspiracy to access Yahoo’s network and the contents of webmail accounts that began in January 2014. Baratov’s co-defend
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WASHINGTON – An indictment was unsealed today against Wu Yingzhuo, Dong Hao and Xia Lei, all of whom are Chinese nationals and residents of China, for computer hacking, theft of trade secrets, conspiracy and identity theft directed at U.S. and foreign employees and computers of three corporate victims in the financial, engineering and technology industries between 2011 and May 2017. The three Chinese hackers work for the purported China-based Internet security firm Guangzhou Bo Yu Information Technology Company Limited (a/k/a “Boyusec”). Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security
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Joon H. Kim, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and William F. Sweeney Jr., the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced today the unsealing of an indictment charging BEHZAD MESRI, a/k/a “Skote Vahshat,” for his involvement in a scheme to obtain unauthorized access to the computer systems of Home Box Office, Inc. (“HBO”), steal proprietary data from those systems, and obtain $6 million worth of Bitcoin from HBO through extortion by threatening to disseminate stolen content. Subseq
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Ronald L. Wheeler, III, a/k/a Trappy, has been arraigned on federal charges of conspiracy to commit access device fraud. During the hearing, Wheeler waived indictment and opted to proceed by criminal information.
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Earlier today, a four-count indictment was returned by a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of New York, charging Joseph P. Willner, a self-described day trader, with Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud, Conspiracy to Commit Securities Fraud and Computer Intrusions, Securities Fraud and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering. As alleged in the indictment and other court filings, between September 2014 and May 2017, Willner engaged in a computer intrusion and securities fraud scheme, illegally profiting from a series of coordinated trades involving more than 50 hacked online brokerage accoun
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An Illinois man was charged today with a felony computer hacking offense stemming from a phishing scheme that gave him illegal access to more than 550 Apple iCloud and Gmail accounts, including those belonging to entertainment industry figures.
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Acting United States Attorney Gregory G. Brooker of the District of Minnesota and Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division today announced the conviction of a former employee of Canadian Pacific Railway for causing intentional damage to Canadian Pacific’s computer network. CHRISTOPHER VICTOR GRUPE, 46, was charged on April 11, 2017, with one count of intentional damage to a protected computer and on October 6, 2017, following a five-day trial, was found guilty by a federal jury in Minneapolis, Minn. A sentencing date has not been set. “I
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Boston - A Massachusetts man was arrested last night on charges that he conducted an extensive cyberstalking campaign against his former roommate, a 24-year-old Massachusetts woman, as well as her friends, family members, and other associates.
Joon H. Kim, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, today announced the forfeiture of $48,238,116 in proceeds (the “Proceeds”) from the sale of the 144,336 Bitcoins that were recovered from Ross William Ulbricht’s laptop computer. Ulbricht was found guilty in 2015, after a jury trial, of distributing narcotics, distributing narcotics by means of the Internet, conspiring to distribute narcotics, engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise, conspiring to commit computer hacking, conspiring to traffic in false identity documents, and conspiring to commit money l
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Earlier today in federal court in Brooklyn, Hani Kabbara, a Canadian citizen, was sentenced by United States District Judge Margo K. Brodie to 30 months’ imprisonment for conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Kabbara was originally arrested and charged in August 2016, after traveling to the United States from Canada, and pleaded guilty in April 2017. In addition, as part of the sentence the court ordered Kabbara to pay $8,000 in restitution.
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TRENTON, N.J. – A Middlesex County, New Jersey, man was arrested today for alleged computer hacking and wiretapping of his former company’s email server, Acting U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick announced. Jian Yang Zhang, a/k/a “Kevin Zhang,” 37, of Edison, New Jersey, is charged complaint with one count of unauthorized access of a protected computer and one count of interception of electronic communications. He is scheduled to appear later today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Tonianne J. Bongiovanni in Trenton federal court. According to documents filed in this case and statements made in c
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Twenty people from the Youngstown area were indicted for their roles in a conspiracy to launder $16 million obtained through computer hacking and other fraud, law enforcement officials said. Indicted are: Julius Smith Williams, 46; Jamal Perry, 37; Joseph Joe III, 40; William Howell, 47; Terry Marlowe, 53; Emmett Conner, 44; Sterling Green, 47; Keisha Johnson, 32; Kayla Neeley, 29; Isiah Patterson, 29; Donald Washington, Jr., 43; Terrance Phillips, 41; Steve Croom, Jr., 40; Crystal Jefferson, 39; Dulcinea Purdue, 32; Terrance Howard, 43; Cobie Phillips, Jr., 41; Ray Wynn, 43; Jermaine Donlow,
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DALLAS — A Seattle man has been charged in a federal indictment, returned late yesterday, with one count of knowingly causing the transmission of a command to a protected computer, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas (NDTX). Kamyar Jahanrakhshan, aka “Kamyar Jahan Rakhshan,” “Andy or Andrew Rakhshan,” “Andy or Andrew Kamyar,” and “Kamiar or Kamier Rakhshan,” 37, of Seattle, Washington, was arrested late last month in the Western District of Washington (WDWA) on a related federal criminal complaint, filed on July 29, 2016, in the U.S. District Court for the NDT
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WASHINGTON – A superseding indictment was unsealed today charging Arash Amiri Abedian, 31, and Danial Jeloudar, 27, with aggravated identity theft; wire fraud; and criminal conspiracy and other charges relating to access device fraud, unauthorized access to, and theft of information from, computers, and threatening to damage a computer. Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney Beth Drake of the District of South Carolina, Assistant Director Scott Smith of the FBI’s Cyber Division and Special Agent in Charge Alphonso Norris of the FBI’s Columbia, Sou
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Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, Patricia M. Ferrick, Special Agent in Charge of the New Haven Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Joel P. Garland, Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation in New England, today announced that DANIEL ADEKUNLE OJO , 33, a citizen of Nigeria residing in Durham, N.C., was arrested yesterday on a federal criminal complaint charging him with fraud and identity theft offenses stemming from a scheme to obtain the personal identifying information of school employees in Connecticut and elsewhere. Foll
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A Russian citizen was sentenced today for his participation in a criminal enterprise that installed and exploited malicious computer software (“malware”) on tens of thousands of computer servers throughout the world to generate millions of dollars in fraudulent payments. Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division, Acting U.S. Attorney Gregory G. Brooker of the District of Minnesota and Special Agent in Charge Richard T. Thornton of the FBI's Minneapolis Field Office made the announcement. U.S. District Judge Patrick J. Schlitz of the Di
DALLAS — Kamyar Jahanrakhshan, aka “Kamyar Jahan Rakhshan,” “Andy or Andrew Rakhshan,” “Andy or Andrew Kamyar,” and “Kamiar or Kamier Rakhshan,” 32, of Seattle, Washington, was arrested today on a federal criminal complaint charging him with extortion by threats to cause damage to the Dallas, Texas hosting company for Leagle.com, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas. According to the affidavit filed with the complaint, on December 30, 2014 Leagle.com, an aggregator of case law from Federal and certain State courts, was contacted by an individual by the name of
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SAN FRANCISCO – A grand jury in the Northern District of California has indicted a Russian national and an organization he allegedly operated, BTC-e, for operating an unlicensed money service business, money laundering, and related crimes. The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Brian J. Stretch for the Northern District of California; Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Criminal Investigation Chief Don Fort; Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Acting
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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Justice Department today announced the seizure of the largest criminal marketplace on the internet, AlphaBay, which operated for over two years on the dark web and was used to sell deadly illegal drugs, stolen and fraudulent identification documents and access devices, counterfeit goods, malware and other computer hacking tools, firearms, and toxic chemicals throughout the world. The international operation to seize AlphaBay’s infrastructure was led by the United States and involved cooperation and efforts by law enforcement authorities in Thailand, the Netherlands, Li
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The Justice Department today announced in Washington the seizure of the largest criminal marketplace on the Internet, AlphaBay, which operated for over two years on the dark web and was used to sell deadly illegal drugs, stolen and fraudulent identification documents and access devices, counterfeit goods, malware and other computer hacking tools, firearms, and toxic chemicals throughout the world. The international operation to seize AlphaBay’s infrastructure was led by the United States and involved cooperation and efforts by law enforcement authorities in Thailand, the Netherlands, Lithuania
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An indictment was unsealed today charging Mohammed Reza Rezakhah, 39 and Mohammed Saeed Ajily, 35, both Iranian nationals, with a criminal conspiracy relating to computer fraud and abuse, unauthorized access to, and theft of information from, computers, wire fraud, exporting a defense article without a license, and violating sanctions against Iran. The court issued arrest warrants for both defendants. Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security Dana J. Boente, Acting U.S. Attorney Eugenia A.P. Cowles of the District of Vermont, Assistant Director Scott Smith of the FBI’s Cyber Divi
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Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that MICHAEL RICHO, 35, of Wallingford, waived his right to be indicted and pleaded guilty today in Hartford federal court to fraud and money laundering offenses in connection with a scheme to steal bitcoins in an online phishing scheme. According to the court documents and statements made in court, RICHO engaged in an online phishing scheme to steal bitcoins from individuals on the dark web. Bitcoins are a form of electronic currency, and online marketplaces on the dark web typically accept them as a payment me
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Adam Flanagan, 42, of Bala Cynwyd, PA was sentenced yesterday by the Hon. Paul Diamond to 12 months, 1 day in prison, based upon his plea of guilty to two counts of unauthorized access to a protected computer and thereby recklessly causing damage, announced Acting United States Attorney Louis D. Lappen . Flanagan was indicted on November 22, 2016, arrested without incident on November 23, 2016, and plead guilty on March 7, 2017. Flanagan had worked as a radio frequency engineer for a company that made remote meter readers for utility systems. These readers would receive radio signals from indi
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A Latvian man made his initial appearance today in Minneapolis following extradition from Poland for his involvement in a “scareware” hacking scheme that targeted the Minneapolis Star Tribune’s website and caused millions of dollars in losses to Internet users. Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division; Acting U.S. Attorney Gregory G. Brooker of the District of Minnesota; and Special Agent in Charge Richard T. Thornton of the FBI’s Minneapolis Field Office made the announcement. Peteris Sahurovs aka “Piotrek” aka “Sagade,” was indicted
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NEWARK, N.J. – A Filipino national was sentenced today to 63 months in prison for running an international cashing operation that monetized stolen credit and debit card information obtained through computer hacking and ATM skimming operations, Acting U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick announced . Angelo Virtucio, a/k/a “ZaiR,” a/k/a “ZaiRe,” a/k/a “Omega,” a/k/a “Omega10,” 31, of Quezon City, Philippines, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton to an information charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud. Virtucio was arrested in the Souther
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Roman Seleznev, of Vladivostok, Russia, has been arraigned on federal cyber fraud charges associated with the 2008 hack and theft of banking credentials from RBS Worldpay, a payment processing company located in Atlanta, Georgia. Seleznev was indicted by a federal grand jury on December 22, 2014.
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A federal grand jury in Bridgeport, Connecticut, returned an eight-count indictment yesterday charging a Russian National with multiple offenses stemming from his alleged operation of the Kelihos botnet – a global network of tens of thousands of infected computers, which he allegedly used to facilitate malicious activities including harvesting login credentials, distributing bulk spam e-mails, and installing ransomware and other malicious software. Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Deirdre M. Daly of the District of
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A federal grand jury in Bridgeport, Connecticut, returned an eight-count indictment yesterday charging a Russian National with multiple offenses stemming from his alleged operation of the Kelihos botnet – a global network of tens of thousands of infected computers, which he allegedly used to facilitate malicious activities including harvesting login credentials, distributing bulk spam e-mails, and installing ransomware and other malicious software.
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Earlier today, an indictment was unsealed in Brooklyn federal court charging Fabio Gasperini, an Italian citizen, with crimes related to his hacking of computers, creation of a global botnet, and perpetration of a fraud in which he used bots to mimic “clicks” on website advertisements and obtain advertising revenue. The charges include computer intrusion, wire fraud conspiracy, wire fraud, and money laundering conspiracy.
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Anchorage, Alaska – Acting U.S. Attorney Bryan Schroder today announced an extensive effort to disrupt and dismantle the Kelihos botnet – a global network of tens of thousands of infected computers under the control of a cybercriminal that was used to facilitate malicious activities including harvesting login credentials, distributing hundreds of millions of spam e-mails, and installing ransomware and other malicious software. Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Acting U.S. Attorney Bryan Schroder for the District of Alaska, Assist
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WASHINGTON – A Russian citizen pleaded guilty today for his participation in a criminal enterprise that installed and exploited malicious computer software (malware) on tens of thousands of computer servers throughout the world to generate millions of dollars in fraudulent payments. Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division, Acting U.S. Attorney Gregory G. Brooker of the District of Minnesota and Assistant Director Scott Smith of the FBI’s Cyber Division made the announcement. MAXIM SENAKH, 41, of Velikii Novgorod, Russia, pleaded guil
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Joon H. Kim, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and William F. Sweeney Jr., the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced criminal charges against EVALDAS RIMASAUSKAS for orchestrating a fraudulent business email compromise scheme that induced two U.S.-based internet companies (the “Victim Companies”) to wire a total of over $100 million to bank accounts controlled by RIMASAUSKAS. RIMASAUSKAS was arrested late last week by authorities in Lithuania on the basis of a provisional arrest warra
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Watch the press conference Remarks by U.S. Attorney Brian Stretch SAN FRANCISCO – A grand jury in the Northern District of California has indicted four defendants, including two officers of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), for computer hacking, economic espionage and other criminal offenses in connection with a conspiracy, beginning in January 2014, to access Yahoo’s network and the contents of webmail accounts. The defendants are Dmitry Aleksandrovich Dokuchaev, 33, a Russian national and resident; Igor Anatolyevich Sushchin, 43, a Russian national and resident; Alexsey Alexseyevic
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Mark Vartanyan, also known as “Kolypto,” a Russian national who allegedly developed, improved and maintained the pernicious “Citadel” malware toolkit, was arraigned in federal court following his extradition from Norway in December 2016. Vartanyan was charged with one count of computer fraud.
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Assistant U. S. Attorney Alexandra Foster (619) 546-6735 NEWS RELEASE SUMMARY – March 3, 2017 SAN DIEGO – A Florida man was arrested this morning on charges that he intentionally shut down a San Diego software company’s website and refused to restore it until the business paid him money. Gerard “Jerry” M. McTear III was taken into custody in Ft. Myers, Florida this morning. In an indictment unsealed today, McTear was charged with threatening to damage and intentionally damaging computers. These computers hosted the San Diego software company’s website. Specifically, on June 6, 2016, the defend
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CONTACT: Barbara Burns PHONE: (716) 843-5817 FAX: (716) 551-3051 ROCHESTER, N.Y.- Acting U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that William Robert Rosica, 50, of Irondequoit NY, was arrested and charged by criminal complaint with stalking and unlawful access to a protected computer. The charges carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa M. Marangola, who is handling the case, stated that according to the complaint, following the victim (L.M.) decision to end a three-year relationship with Rosica in February 2016, the defen
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PHOENIX – Today, George Cotrel, 23, of London, United Kingdom, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Diane J. Humetewa to eight months’ imprisonment, with credit for time served dating back to his arrest on July 22, 2016. Judge Humetewa also imposed restitution in the amount of $30,000. Cotrel had previously pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud. “Our office is dedicated to prosecuting illegal activity wherever it occurs, including on the ‘dark web,’ which attempts to provide a platform for concealing criminal activity from law enforcement,” stated Acting U.S. Attorney Elizabeth A. Strange.
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NEWARK, N.J. – The administrator of two criminal online hacking forums was sentenced today to 41 months in prison for stealing log-in and payment card data as part of an international hacking conspiracy, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced. Sergey Vovnenko, a/k/a “Sergey Vovnencko,” “Tomas Rimkis,” “Flycracker,” “Flyck,” “Fly,” “Centurion,” “MUXACC1,” “Stranier,” and “Darklife,” 31, most recently of Naples, Italy, previously pleaded guilty before the U.S. District Judge Esther Salas to Count One and Count Three of an indictment charging him with wire fraud conspiracy and aggravated identit
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United States Attorney Walt Green announced today that BRIAN P. JOHNSON, age 44, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, has been sentenced to serve thirty-four (34) months in federal prison, as a result of his conviction for hacking into the computer system of an industrial facility to disrupt and damage its operations, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1030(a)(5)(A).
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Michael Persaud was indicted on federal fraud charges for allegedly sending over a million spam emails and damaging several computer networks.
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WICHITA, KAN. B A Georgia man has been arrested on federal charges he carried out an e-mail spoofing scheme that cost Sedgwick County $566,000, U.S. Attorney Tom Beall said. George S. James , 48, Brookhaven, Ga., is charged with one count of wire fraud. An FBI agent’s affidavit alleges that investigators followed an electronic trail that led them to James after Sedgwick reported the theft of funds that were intended to pay Cornejo & Sons, LLC, for work done on a road project. The criminal complaint alleges that on Sept 23, 2016, Sedgwick County received an e-mail purporting to be from the CEO
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U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite announced that BRADER YELVERTON, age 24, of Thibodaux, was sentenced today after previously pleading guilty as charged to a one-count Bill of Information charging him with unauthorized access of a protected computer. U.S. District Judge Jay C. Zainey sentenced YELVERTON to 5 years probation and $3,500 in restitution. According to court documents, between about 2013 and December 2015, YELVERTON accessed the personal online accounts, including email, educational, social media, and “cloud” storage accounts of at least 49 individuals without their knowledge or autho
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Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and William F. Sweeney Jr., the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced the arrest of IAT HONG and the unsealing today of a 13-count superseding indictment charging HONG, BO ZHENG, and CHIN HUNG (the “Defendants”). The Defendants are charged with devising and carrying out a scheme to enrich themselves by obtaining and trading on material, nonpublic information (“Inside Information”), exfiltrated from the networks and servers of multiple pr
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SCRANTON- The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced today that Justin Bodnar, age 27, of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, was indicted on December 20, 2016, by a federal grand jury for intentionally accessing protected computers without authorization. According to United States Attorney Bruce D. Brandler, the indictment charges Bodnar with an incident in 2013 in which Bodnar allegedly hacked a computer and thereby obtained the e-mails of another individual which he then attempted to sell. The indictment also charges Bodnar with causing intentional damage
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Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and William F. Sweeney Jr., Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced today that DAVID W. KENT, the founder of professional networking website Oilpro.com (“Oilpro”), pled guilty this morning before U.S. District Judge Denise L. Cote in Manhattan federal court to a superseding Information, which charged him with one count of intentionally accessing a protected computer without authorization. The charge stemmed from KENT’s role in repeatedly h
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A 21-count indictment was unsealed today charging three Romanian nationals for operating a cyber fraud conspiracy in which they infected between 60,000 and 160,000 computers, sent out 11 million malicious emails and stole at least $4 million. Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Carole S. Rendon of the Northern District of Ohio and Special Agent in Charge Stephen D. Anthony of the FBI’s Cleveland Division made the announcement. Bogdan Nicolescu, 34, Tiberiu Danet, 31, and Radu Miclaus, 34, were extradited to the United State
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A 21-count indictment was unsealed in which three Romanian nationals were charged for operating a cyber fraud conspiracy in which they infected 60,000 computers, sent out 11 million malicious emails and stole at least $4 million, said U.S. Attorney Carole S. Rendon and FBI Special Agent in Charge Stephen D. Anthony. Bogdan Nicolescu, 34, Tiberiu Danet, 31, and Radu Miclaus, 34, were extradited to the United States this week after being taken into custody in their native Romania earlier this year. They are each charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to traffic in counterfeit s
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Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, William F. Sweeney Jr., Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), and David E. Beach, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service New York Field Office (“USSS”), announced that JOSHUA SAMUEL AARON, a/k/a “Mike Shields,” was arrested earlier today at John F. Kennedy International Airport. AARON, along with defendant Gery Shalon, a/k/a “Garri Shalelashvili,” a/k/a “Gabriel,” a/k/a “Gabi,” a/k/a “Phillipe Mousset,” a/k/a “Christopher Engeham,” is
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SAN FRANCISCO – Sean Krishanmakoto Sharma, a graduate student in computer science, has been indicted for transmitting a program, information, code, or command causing damage to a protected computer announced United States Attorney Brian J. Stretch and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agent in Charge John F. Bennett. The indictment, filed December 1, 2016, and unsealed December 9, 2016, accuses the graduate student of initiating a number of attacks on a local provider of online chat services. According to the indictment, between November 6, 2014, and January 20, 2015, Sharma, 26, o
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PITTSBURGH – A Bulgarian man has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh in connection with a sophisticated malware package known as GozNym, designed to steal banking credentials and other confidential personal information from infected computers, Acting United States Attorney Soo C. Song announced today. The six-count indictment, returned on Oct. 4, 2016, and unsealed today, named Krasimir Nikolov, age 44, of Varna, Bulgaria, as the sole defendant. Count One charges Nikolov with criminal conspiracy; Count Two charges unauthorized access of a computer to obtain financial informatio
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WASHINGTON – The Justice Department today announced a multinational operation involving arrests and searches in four countries to dismantle a complex and sophisticated network of computer servers known as “Avalanche.” The Avalanche network allegedly hosted more than two dozen of the world’s most pernicious types of malicious software and several money laundering campaigns. Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Acting U.S. Attorney Soo C. Song of the Western District of Pennsylvania and Special Agent in Charge Robert Johnson of the FBI’s Pi
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WASHINGTON – Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Acting U.S. Attorney Soo C. Song of the Western District of Pennsylvania and Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Pittsburgh Division Robert Johnson issued the following statement today: “November 30 began the start of a multi-national operation to dismantle a complex, criminal network of worldwide computer servers known as Avalanche. This network hosted more than two dozen of the world’s most pernicious types of malware and several money laundering campaigns. “
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Carlos Ruiz-Rodriguez, 25, of Cincinnati, Ohio, has pleaded guilty to extortion against a Cincinnati-based company. He was indicted by a federal grand jury in August.
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HARRISBURG- The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Dariusz J. Prugar, age 32, of Syracuse, New York, was sentenced today by United States District Court Judge Sylvia H. Rambo in Harrisburg, to 24 months in prison for computer hacking and wire fraud. In March 2016, a jury convicted Prugar of these offenses after a one-week jury trial. Judge Rambo ordered Prugar to pay $26,000 in restitution. Judge Rambo also ordered Prugar to report to the Bureau of Prisons on December 27, 2016, to begin service of his prison sentence. According to United Stat
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DENVER – Brandon Bourret, age 41, of Colorado Springs, Colorado, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Court Judge Wiley Y. Daniel to serve 29 months in federal prison, followed by 3 years on supervised release after previously pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit computer fraud and abuse, access device fraud, identification document fraud and wire fraud, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Denver Division of the FBI announced. Further, the Judge ordered the forfeiture of $49,153 cash plus a substantial amount of computer equipment. Bourret, who appeared at the sentencing hearing free on
Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and William F. Sweeney Jr., Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced the arrest of JONATHAN POWELL for obtaining unauthorized access to email accounts maintained by a New York City area university, using his work computer, and causing over $5,000 of loss in the process. POWELL went on to compromise social media and other online accounts linked to the university email accounts, and mined those linked accounts for the users’ login credentials
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NEWARK, N.J. – A Boca Raton, Florida, man today admitted his role in a computer hacking and identity theft scheme that generated $1.3 million in illegal profits by hijacking customer email accounts to send unsolicited “spam” emails, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman and Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division announced. Timothy Livingston, 31, pleaded guilty to Count One, Count Two, and Count Six of a superseding indictment charging him with conspiracy to commit fraud and related activity in connection with computers and access devices, conspirac
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Yesterday, a complaint was unsealed charging Dwayne C. Hans, a United States citizen, with wire fraud, computer fraud, and money laundering. According to the complaint, between April 2016 and July 2016, the defendant masterminded a series of frauds against a U.S. financial institution in which he masqueraded as an authorized representative of that institution.
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A Pennsylvania man was sentenced today on felony computer hacking charges related to his illegal access of over 100 Apple and Google e-mail accounts, including those belonging to members of the entertainment industry in Los Angeles. Ryan Collins, 36, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, was sentenced in United States District Court in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to 18 months in federal prison for a felony violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. He was taken into custody immediately after sentencing.
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OAKLAND – A federal grand jury in Oakland indicted Yevgeniy Aleksandrovich Nikulin yesterday for obtaining information from computers, causing damage to computers, trafficking in access devices, aggravated identity theft, and conspiracy, announced United States Attorney Brian J. Stretch and Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge John F. Bennett. The indictment, unsealed today, alleges that Nikulin, 29, of Moscow, Russia, accessed computers belonging to LinkedIn, Dropbox, and Formspring, each of which has its headquarters in the San Francisco Bay Area. The indictment further al
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Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and Patricia M. Ferrick, Special Agent in Charge of the New Haven Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, announced that MICHAEL RICHO, 34, of Wallingford, was arrested today on a criminal complaint charging him with access device fraud, computer fraud, wire fraud, identity theft and money laundering offenses in connection with a scheme to steal bitcoins in an online phishing scheme. According to the criminal complaint, RICHO engaged in an online phishing scheme to steal bitcoins from individuals on the dark web.
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Zachary Buchta, 19, of Fallston, Md., and Bradley Jan Willem van Rooy, 19, of Leiden, the Netherlands, are charged with conspiring to cause damage to protected computers. The charges are the result of an international investigation into the computer hacking groups “Lizard Squad” and “PoodleCorp." Buchta and van Rooy allegedly conspired with others to launch destructive cyber attacks around the world, and trafficked payment accounts that had been stolen from unsuspecting victims in Illinois and elsewhere.
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Devin Marino, 29, of Philadelphia, PA was charged today by Indictment [1] with charges of cyber stalking, unauthorized access to a protected computer, wrongfully obtaining individually identifiable health care information, and wrongfully disclosing individually identifiable health care information, announced United States Attorney Zane David Memeger. If convicted the defendant faces a maximum possible sentence of 175 years’ imprisonment, $250,000 fine, and $100 special assessment. The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United Stat
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WASHINGTON – Ardit Ferizi, aka Th3Dir3ctorY, 20, a citizen of Kosovo, was sentenced today to 20 years in prison for providing material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a designated foreign terrorist organization, and accessing a protected computer without authorization and obtaining information in order to provide material support to ISIL. Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P. Carlin, U.S. Attorney Dana J. Boente for the Eastern District of Virginia, Assistant Director in Charge Paul M. Abbate of the FBI’s Washington Field Office and Special Agent
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NEWARK, N.J. – A Romanian citizen was sentenced today to 36 months in prison for orchestrating an international hacking scheme targeting retailers, security companies, medical offices and individuals in the United States, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced. Mircea-Ilie Ispasoiu, 31, of Drobeta-Turnu Severin, Romania, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Kevin McNulty to Count One and Count Seven of an indictment charging him with wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Judge McNulty imposed the sentence today in Newark federal court. According to documents filed in this
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Andrew Otto Boggs, aka “INCURSIO,” 22, of North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, and Justin Gray Liverman, aka “D3F4ULT,” 24, of Morehead City, North Carolina, were arrested today on charges related to their alleged roles in the computer hacking of several senior U.S. government officials and U.S. government computer systems. According to charging documents filed with the court, Boggs and Liverman conspired with members of a hacking group that called itself “Crackas With Attitude.” From about October 2015 to February 2016, the group used “social engineering” hacking techniques, in
SAN FRANCISCO – A South Florida-based computer programmer made an appearance in the Southern District of Florida today after being arrested Sunday on charges of hacking into computers operated by the Linux Kernel Organization and the Linux Foundation, announced United States Attorney Brian J. Stretch and Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge John F. Bennett. The Linux Kernel Organization operates the www.kernel.org website from which it distributes the Linux kernel software. The Linux Foundation is a separate nonprofit foundation that supports the www.kernel.org website. Dona
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ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Marcel Lehel Lazar, aka “Guccifer,” 44, of Arad, Romania, a hacker who unlawfully accessed the private online accounts of at least 100 Americans and caused the public release of this information on the Internet, was sentenced today to a total of 52 months in prison for unauthorized access to a protected computer (28 months) and aggravated identity theft (24 months). Lazar was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release, forfeit online storage accounts that contained victim information, and pay restitution to his victims. Lazar pleaded guilty on May 25. According t
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Seattle – A federal court jury today convicted Roman Valerevich Seleznev, aka “Track2,” 32, of Vladivostok, Russia, of 38 counts related to his scheme to hack into point-of-sale computers to steal and sell credit card numbers to the criminal underworld, announced U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes. The jury deliberated six hours following an eight-day trial. U.S. District Judge Richard A. Jones scheduled sentencing for December 2, 2016. The 40-count indictment charged Seleznev with the theft and sale of more than 2.9 million credit card numbers. According to testimony at trial and court documents,
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LOS ANGELES – A Northern California nurse’s assistant was arrested this morning on federal cyberstalking and hacking charges related to harassment and threats targeting television personality Kristen Jenner, members of her family and two assistants. Christina Elizabeth Bankston, 36, of Newark, California, was arrested at her residence Thursday morning by special agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Bankston was arrested pursuant to a 15-count indictment that was returned by a federal grand jury on July 26 and unsealed today. Bankston is scheduled to make her first appearance Friday
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ATLANTA - Evgeny Tarasovich Levitskyy, a/k/a Vinchenco, a/k/a Vinch, a/k/a M.U.R.D.E.R.E.R., 31, of Nikolaev, Ukraine, was arraigned today before Catherine M. Salinas, United States Magistrate Judge, on federal charges of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and wire fraud. Levitskyy was indicted by a federal grand jury on October 13, 2015. “In just one day in 2008, an American credit card processor was hacked in perhaps one of the most sophisticated and organized computer fraud attacks ever conducted. A team of hackers and cashers, stationed in 280 cit
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Earlier today, Leonid Momotok, of Suwanee, Georgia, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud for his role in an international scheme to hack into three business newswires and steal yet-to-be published press releases containing non-public financial information that was then used to make trades that generated approximately $30 million in illegal profits. The guilty plea was entered before United States Magistrate Judge Ramon E. Reyes, Jr. at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn, New York. When sentenced, Momotok faces up to 20 years in prison, as well as restitution, criminal forfeiture,
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DALLAS — A Dallas man who worked at Citibank Regents Campus in Irving, Texas, in 2012 and 2013, Lennon Ray Brown, and who admitted causing damage to a protected Citibank computer, was sentenced today by U.S. District C. Godbey to 21 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $77,200 in restitution, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas. Brown, 38, who worked for Citibank first as a contract employee and then, beginning in February 2013 as a full-time employee, pleaded guilty in February 2016 to an indictment charging one count of intentional damage to a protect
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Aaron James Glende has been arraigned on federal charges of bank fraud, access device fraud, and aggravated identity theft. The indictment alleges he advertised criminal services on AlphaBay Market, a hidden services marketplace.
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Criminal charges were unsealed against multiple defendants relating to their participation in a sophisticated global cell phone fraud scheme, involving the takeover or compromise of cell phone customers’ accounts and the “cloning” of their phones to make fraudulent international calls. U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer of the Southern District of Florida, Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Special Agent in Charge George L. Piro of the FBI’s Miami Field Office made the announcement. Ramon Batista , aka Porfirio, 49, of Orlando, Florida;
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NEWARK, N.J. – A Filipino national today admitted running an international cashing operation that monetized stolen credit and debit card information obtained through computer hacking and ATM skimming operations, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced. Angelo Virtucio, a/k/a “ZaiR,” a/k/a “ZaiRe,” a/k/a “Omega,” a/k/a “Omega10,” 30, of Quezon City, Philippines, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton in Newark federal court to an information charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud. Virtucio was arrested in the Southern District of Florida on Jan. 29,
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U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite announced that BRADER YELVERTON, age 24, of Thibodaux, was charged today in a one-count Bill of Information with obtaining unauthorized access to protected computers to acquire information. According to the Bill of Information, between about 2013 and December 15, 2015, YELVERTON obtained access to the personal Apple iCloud, Facebook, and email accounts of not fewer than fifty victims, many of whom resided within the Eastern District of Louisiana, without their knowledge or authorization. After accessing the accounts, YELVERTON acquired copies of the contents, in
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An Illinois man was charged today with felony computer hacking related to a phishing scheme that gave him illegal access to over 300 Apple iCloud and Gmail accounts, including those belonging to members of the entertainment industry in Los Angeles.
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ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Ardit Ferizi, aka Th3Dir3ctorY, 20, a citizen of Kosovo, pleaded guilty today to charges of providing material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a designated foreign terrorist organization, and accessing a protected computer without authorization and obtaining information. “Ferizi endangered the lives of over 1,000 Americans,” said Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “Cyber terrorism has become an increasingly prevalent and serious threat here in America, both to individuals and businesses. However, cyber terrorist are
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Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Diego Rodriguez, Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), and David E. Beach, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service New York Field Office (“USSS”), announced today that GERY SHALON, a/k/a “Garri Shalelashvili,” a/k/a “Gabriel,” a/k/a “Gabi,” a/k/a “Phillipe Mousset,” a/k/a “Christopher Engeham,” and ZIV ORENSTEIN, a/k/a “Aviv Stein,” a/k/a “John Avery,” were extradited from Israel. SHALON and ORENSTEIN were arrested in July 2015 for char
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NEWARK, N.J. – Two men today admitted their roles in a computer hacking and identity theft scheme that hijacked customer email accounts, stole personally identifiable information (PII) from millions of people, and generated more than $2 million in illegal profits, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced. Tomasz Chmielarz, 33, of Rutherford, New Jersey, pleaded guilty to Count One and Count Three of an indictment charging him with conspiracy to commit fraud and related activity in connection with computers and conspiracy to commit fraud and related activity in connection with electronic mail. D
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Update: A Pennsylvania man charged in relation to the ongoing “Celebgate” investigation pleaded guilty this morning in United States District Court in Harrisburg, Penn. The case against Ryan Collins was investigated by FBI agents based in Los Angeles, and the plea agreement was negotiated by prosecutors in the United States Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles. The case was transferred to the Middle District of Pennsylvania for the entry of the guilty plea because the defendant lives in that area. Collins pleaded guilty before Senior U.S. District Court Judge William W. Caldwell, who has not yet s
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Eric Donys Simeu, a/k/a Martell Collins, a citizen of Cameroon, has been arraigned on federal charges of conspiracy, wire fraud, computer fraud and access device fraud. Simeu was indicted by a federal grand jury in Atlanta on September 23, 2014.
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ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Peter Romar, 36, a Syrian national affiliated with the Syrian Electronic Army (SEA), made his initial appearance here this afternoon on charges that he conspired to violate U.S. law, including by unauthorized access to, and damage of, computers and related extortionate activities; receiving the proceeds of extortion; money laundering; wire fraud; violations of the Syrian Sanctions Regulations; and unlawful interstate communications. Romar, who was detained by German authorities on a provisional arrest warrant on behalf of the United States, was charged by criminal complaint u
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Tampa, FL – U.S. District Judge Virginia Hernandez Covington has sentenced Tonia Bright (53, Tampa) to two years in federal prison for obtaining information from a protected computer for a fraudulent purpose. The Court also ordered her to forfeit $29,057 and to pay restitution totaling $166,026, which are the proceeds traceable to the offenses.
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PHILADELPHIA - Marc Fox, 44, of Shoemakersville, Pennsylvania, was charged today by Information with one count of intentionally causing damage to a computer, announced United States Attorney Zane David Memeger. The Information alleges that between September 11, 2015 and October 2, 2015, Fox sent unauthorized commands to a computer owned by UGI Utilities, Inc., a company that supplies natural gas to customers in Pennsylvania. The Information alleges that by sending these unauthorized commands, Fox intentionally changed the passwords and permissions for certain accounts on UGI’s computers. It is
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PITTSBURGH – Two Belarus citizens have been charged in Belarus for participating in an international criminal conspiracy that used the botnet known as “Bugat” to steal banking and other credentials from infected computers, David J. Hickton, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania and Special Agent in Charge Scott S. Smith of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Pittsburgh Division announced today. Aleskey Semeonovich Yaroshevich, 34, and Egor Nikolayevich Pavlenko, 41, both of Minsk, Belarus, are being investigated by the FBI as part of an international crime group responsible
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ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The hacker "Guccifer," alleged to be Marcel Lehel Lazăr, 44, of Arad, Romania, made his initial appearance today here in federal court on charges relating to unauthorized access of protected computers. According to the indictment, from December 2012 to January 2014, Lazăr hacked into the email and social media accounts of high-profile victims, including a family member of two former U.S. presidents, a former U.S. Cabinet member, a former member of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff and a former presidential advisor. After gaining unauthorized access to their accounts, Lazăr publi
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Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Diego Rodriguez, Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced today that DAVID W. KENT, the founder of professional networking website Oilpro.com (“Oilpro”), was arrested for charges relating to computer hacking and wire fraud. The charges stem from KENT’s alleged role in repeatedly hacking into a competitor’s database to steal customer information and attempting to sell Oilpro to the same company whose database KENT had hacked. KENT was ar
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Loretta E. Lynch, the Attorney General of the United States, Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, James B. Comey, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), and John P. Carlin, Assistant Attorney General for National Security, announced today the unsealing of an indictment charging seven Iranians – AHMAD FATHI; HAMID FIROOZI; AMIN SHOKOHI; SADEGH AHMADZADEGAN, a/k/a Nitr0jen26; OMID GHAFFARINIA, a/k/a PLuS; SINA KEISSAR; and NADER SAEDI, a/k/a Turk Server – who were employed by two Iran-based computer companies, ITSecTeam (“ITSEC”) and
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One Defendant Also Charged with Obtaining Unauthorized Access into Control Systems of a New York Dam A grand jury in the Southern District of New York indicted seven Iranian individuals who were employed by two Iran-based computer companies, ITSecTeam (ITSEC) and Mersad Company (MERSAD), that performed work on behalf of the Iranian Government, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, on computer hacking charges related to their involvement in an extensive campaign of over 176 days of distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks. Ahmad Fathi, 37; Hamid Firoozi, 34; Amin Shokohi, 25; Sad
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ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Three Syrian nationals, all current or former members of the Syrian Electronic Army (SEA), were charged with multiple conspiracies related to computer hacking, according to two criminal complaints unsealed today here in the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Virginia. Ahmad Umar Agha, 22, known online as “The Pro,” and Firas Dardar, 27, known online as “The Shadow,” were charged with a criminal conspiracy relating to: engaging in a hoax regarding a terrorist attack; attempting to cause mutiny of the U.S. armed forces; illicit possession of authentication features;
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A Pennsylvania man was charged today with felony computer hacking related to a phishing scheme that gave him illegal access to over 100 Apple and Google e-mail accounts, including those belonging to members of the entertainment industry in Los Angeles.
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NEWARK, N.J. – A Romanian citizen today admitted orchestrating an international hacking scheme targeting retailers, security companies, medical offices and individuals in the United States, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced. Mircea-Ilie Ispasoiu, 30, of Drobeta-Turnu Severin, Romania, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Kevin McNulty in Newark federal court to Count One and Count Seven of an indictment charging him with wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court: From August 2011 through February 2014, Ispasoiu w
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BATON ROUGE, LA – United States Attorney Walt Green announced the conviction of a former systems administrator who hacked into the computer system of an industrial facility to disrupt and damage its operations.
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BOSTON – A Somerville man, who was charged yesterday for his role in orchestrating a disruptive computer attack on a local hospital’s network, was arrested in Miami this morning after having fled Massachusetts and being found in a small boat off the coast of Cuba. The man and his wife made a distress call, after their boat ran into trouble. A nearby Disney Cruise Ship responded to the distress call and rescued the couple.
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PITTSBURGH - A resident of Indianapolis, Indiana, has been sentenced in federal court to 27 months imprisonment to be followed by one year supervised release, on his conviction of violating the CAN-SPAM ACT, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today. Senior United States District Judge Maurice B. Cohill, Jr. imposed the sentence on Phillip Fleitz, 31. Fleitz is one of 12 individuals charged in connection with a significant computer hacking forum known as Darkode, which has been dismantled. According to information presented to the court, Fleitz knowingly used a protected computer
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PITTSBURGH - A resident of Tampa, Florida, has been sentenced in federal court to two years probation on his conviction of violating the CAN-SPAM ACT, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today. Senior United States District Judge Maurice B. Cohill, Jr. imposed the sentence on Naveed Ahmed, 27. Ahmed is one of 12 individuals charged in connection with a significant computer hacking forum known as Darkode, which has been dismantled. According to information presented to the court, Ahmed knowingly used a protected computer to relay or retransmit multiple commercial electronic mail m
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ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Ardit Ferizi, 20, a citizen of Kosovo, made his initial appearance here this afternoon on charges alleging that he provided material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a designated foreign terrorist organization, and committed computer hacking and identity theft violations in conjunction with the theft and release of personally identifiable information (PII) of U.S. service members and federal employees. Ferizi, who was detained by Malaysian authorities on a U.S. provisional arrest warrant, was charged by criminal complaint on Oct. 6, 2015. The crimin
Ardit Ferizi, 20, a citizen of Kosovo, made his initial appearance this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ivan D. Davis of the Eastern District of Virginia on charges alleging that he provided material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a designated foreign terrorist organization, and committed computer hacking and identity theft violations in conjunction with the theft and release of personally identifiable information (PII) of U.S. servicemembers and federal employees. Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P. Carlin, U.S. Attorney Dana J. Boente
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A 35-year-old citizen of Belarus will appear in U.S. District Court in Seattle today following his arrest last year in Vienna, Austria and extradition to the Western District of Washington, announced U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes. ALEXANDER MIHAILOVSKI was indicted in August 2012 for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, accessing a protected computer in furtherance of fraud, and intentional damage to a protected computer. MIHAILOVSKI will make an initial appearance today before U.S. Magistrate Judge John L. Weinberg. “This defendant has now learned the hard lesson that so many other cyber crimina
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NEWARK, N.J. – Igor Dubovoy, 28, Alpharetta, Georgia, today admitted his role in an international scheme to hack into three business newswires and steal yet-to-be published press releases containing non-public financial information that was then used to make trades that allegedly generated approximately $30 million in illegal profits, New Jersey U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced. Igor Dubovoy pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Madeline Cox Arleo to Count One of an indictment charging him with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He was arrested on Aug. 11, 2015, in connection with a f
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NEWARK, N.J. – The administrator of two criminal online hacking forums today admitted stealing log-in and payment card data as part of an international hacking conspiracy, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced. Sergey Vovnenko, a/k/a “Sergey Vovnencko,” “Tomas Rimkis,” “Flycracker,” “Flyck,” “Fly,” “Centurion,” “MUXACC1,” “Stranier,” and “Darklife,” 29, most recently of Naples, Italy, pleaded guilty before the U.S. District Judge Esther Salas in Newark federal court to Count One and Count Three of an indictment charging him with wire fraud conspiracy and aggravated identity theft. Vovnenko w
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PITTSBURGH - A Florida resident has been sentenced in federal court to two years probation and six months home confinement on his conviction of violating the CAN-SPAM ACT, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today. Senior United States District Judge Maurice B. Cohill, Jr. imposed the sentence on DeWayne Watts, 28, of Hernando, Florida. Watts was one of 12 individuals charged in connection with a significant computer hacking forum known as Darkode, which has been dismantled. According to information presented to the court, Watts knowingly used a protected computer to relay or ret
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HOUSTON – The former director of Baseball Development for the St. Louis Cardinals made an initial appearance in Houston federal court today on charges of accessing the Houston Astros’ computers without authorization, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson and Special Agent in Charge Perrye K. Turner of the FBI. Later this afternoon, the former Cardinals official then entered a guilty plea to all counts as charged. Christopher Correa, 35, of St. Louis, was charged in a criminal information with five counts of unauthorized access of a protected computer. No other personnel associated with the
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A Ukrainian national made his initial appearance today in federal court in Charlotte, North Carolina, after being extradited from Poland to face charges relating to a $10 million international money laundering operation, announced Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Jill Westmoreland Rose of the Western District of North Carolina and Special Agent in Charge John A. Strong of the FBI’s Charlotte Division. Viktor Chostak, 34, of Ukraine, along with three other individuals, are charged in a 25-count indictment with conspiracy
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NEWARK, N.J. – Three men from Florida, New Jersey, and Maryland were charged today with a wide-ranging computer hacking and identity theft scheme that compromised the personally identifiable information (PII) of millions of people and generated more than $2 million in illegal profits, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced. Timothy Edward Livingston, 30, of Boca Raton, Florida; Tomasz Chmielarz, 32, of Rutherford, New Jersey; and Devin James McArthur, 27, of Ellicott City, Maryland, are charged by indictment with conspiracy to commit fraud and related activity in connection with computers and
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ATLANTA – Three individuals were charged in an indictment unsealed today with an international scheme to hack into E*TRADE Financial Services Corporation and Scottrade Financial Services, Inc. to steal sensitive personal identifying information from millions of customers and build their own securities brokerage using the companies’ proprietary databases. “The massive scale of these data breaches is staggering. But the methods and goals of this scheme are all too familiar and highlight the critical threat that cyber-crime poses to our nation’s economic security,” said U.S. Attorney John Horn. “
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Breaches Included the Largest Theft of Customer Data from a U.S. Financial Institution in History Defendants Hacked in Furtherance of Securities Market Manipulation Schemes, and Vast Gambling and Payment Processing Schemes Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara of the Southern District of New York, Assistant Director in Charge Diego Rodriguez of the FBI’s New York Field Office and Special Agent in Charge Robert J. Sica of the U.S. Secret Service (USSS) New York Field Office announced today the unsealing of a superseding indictment charging Gery Shalon, aka “Garri Shalel
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ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Ardit Ferizi, a citizen of Kosovo, has been detained by Malaysian authorities on a U.S. provisional arrest warrant alleging that he provided material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a designated foreign terrorist organization, and committed computer hacking and identity theft violations in conjunction with the theft and release of personally identifiable information (PII) of U.S. service members and federal employees. The criminal complaint was unsealed in the Eastern District of Virginia today. According to the criminal complaint, Ferizi, also kno
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WASHINGTON – A sophisticated malware package designed to steal banking and other credentials from infected computers has been disrupted, and charges have been filed in the Western District of Pennsylvania against a Moldovan administrator of the botnet known as “Bugat,” “Cridex” or “Dridex.” Actions taken by the U.K. and the U.S. substantially disrupted the botnet. Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney David J. Hickton of the Western District of Pennsylvania and Special Agent in Charge Scott S. Smith of the FBI’s Pittsburgh Di
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Defendant Operated Army of More Than 13,000 Infected Computers and Administered Two Criminal Online Forums for Computer Hackers NEWARK, N.J. – A Ukrainian citizen is scheduled to appear in Newark federal court today after being extradited from Italy to face charges that he participated in an international conspiracy to hack into the computer networks of individual users and corporations to steal log-in credentials and payment card data, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced. Sergey Vovnenko, a/k/a “Sergey Vovnencko,” “Tomas Rimkis,” “Flycracker,” “Flyck,” “Fly,” “Centurion,” “MUXACC1,” “Stra
CHICAGO — The president of a southern California trucking company plotted with a Serbian man to extort $40,000 from a Chicago-area software company by hacking into the company’s computer system and threatening to disclose the data, federal authorities announced today. STEFAN STOJANOVIC, 20, of Zemun, Serbia, hacked into the company’s servers in May and threatened to expose sensitive information, including employee usernames and passwords, unless the company paid him $40,000, according to a criminal complaint and affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago. Per instructions from Stojanovi
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CAMDEN, N.J. – A Russian national today admitted his role in a worldwide hacking and data breach scheme that targeted major corporate networks, compromised more than 160 million credit card numbers and resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in losses – the largest such scheme ever prosecuted in the United States. The guilty plea was announced by New Jersey U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman, U.S. Secret Service Director Joseph P. Clancy and Assistant Attorney General Leslie Caldwell. Dmitriy Smilianets, 32, of Moscow, pleaded guilty pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Jerome B. Simandle
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Hackers Targeted Major Payment Processors, Retailers and Financial Institutions Around the World CAMDEN, N.J. – A Russian national today admitted his role in a worldwide hacking and data breach scheme that targeted major corporate networks, compromised more than 160 million credit card numbers and resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in losses – the largest such scheme ever prosecuted in the United States. The guilty plea was announced by New Jersey U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman, U.S. Secret Service Director Joseph P. Clancy and Assistant Attorney General Leslie Caldwell. Vladimir Drink
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TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA – A federal grand jury returned an indictment charging Michael Daniel Rubens, 30, formerly of Tallahassee, with seven counts of cyberstalking, five counts of unauthorized access to a protected computer, and one count of aggravated identity theft. Rubens was arraigned yesterday in the U.S. District Court in Tallahassee. The indictment was announced by Christopher P. Canova, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida. The 13-count indictment alleges that, between January 2012 and January 2015, in the Northern District of Florida, Rubens used interacti
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Tampa, FL – United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces the unsealing of an indictment charging Tonia Bright with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, four counts of obtaining information from a protected computer, and four counts of aggravated identity theft related to her involvement in a stolen identity refund fraud (SIRF) scheme. If convicted, she faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison on the conspiracy charge, 5 years in federal prison on each of the computer intrusion offenses, and a 2-year term of imprisonment for each aggravated identity theft count tha
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PITTSBURGH - A resident of Indianapolis, Indiana, pleaded guilty in federal court in Pittsburgh to a charge of violating the CAN-SPAM ACT, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today. Phillip Fleitz, 31, pleaded guilty to one count before Senior United States District Judge Maurice B. Cohill, Jr. Fleitz is one of 12 individuals charged in connection with a significant computer hacking forum known as Darkode, which has been dismantled. In connection with the guilty plea, the court was advised that Fleitz knowingly used a protected computer to relay or retransmit multiple commercial
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ATLANTA – A federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging former U.S. State Department employee Michael C. Ford has been engaging in a hacking and cyberstalking scheme in which, using stolen passwords, he obtained sexually explicit photographs and other personal information from victims’ email and social media accounts, and threatened to share the photographs and personal information unless the victims provided him with additional explicit photos and videos. “Ford is alleged to have hacked into hundreds of email accounts and tormented women across the country, by threatening to humili
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A former locally-employed staff member of the U.S. Embassy in London was charged with engaging in a hacking and cyberstalking scheme in which, using stolen passwords, he obtained sexually explicit photographs and other personal information from victims’ email and social media accounts, and threatened to share the photographs and personal information unless the victims ceded to certain demands. Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney John A. Horn of the Northern District of Georgia, Director Bill A. Miller of the U.S. Department
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PITTSBURGH - A resident of Tampa, Florida, pleaded guilty in federal court to a charge of violating the CAN-SPAM ACT, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today. Naveed Ahmed, 27, pleaded guilty to one count before Senior United States District Judge Maurice B. Cohill, Jr. Ahmed is one of 12 individuals charged in connection with a significant computer hacking forum known as Darkode, which has been dismantled. In connection with the guilty plea, the court was advised that Ahmed knowingly used a protected computer to relay or retransmit multiple commercial electronic mail messages
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PITTSBURGH - A New York resident pleaded guilty in federal court to a charge of violating the CAN-SPAM ACT, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today. Eric L. Crocker, 39, of Binghamton, NY, pleaded guilty to one count before United States District Judge Maurice B. Cohill. Crocker is one of 12 individuals charged in connection with a significant computer hacking forum known as Darkode, which has since been dismantled. In connection with the guilty plea, the court was advised that Crocker knowingly accessed a protected computer without authorization, namely a computer that had bee
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NEWARK, N.J. – Nine people were charged in two indictments unsealed today in Brooklyn, New York, and Newark federal court with an international scheme to hack into three business newswires and steal yet-to-be published press releases containing non-public financial information that was then used to make trades that allegedly generated approximately $30 million in illegal profits. U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman, District of New Jersey, and Acting U.S. Attorney Kelly T. Currie, Eastern District of New York, announced the indictments today, along with U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnso
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WASHINGTON – A New Hampshire man was charged with remotely hacking into the social media, email and online shopping accounts of...
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WASHINGTON – The computer hacking forum known as “Darkode” was dismantled, and criminal charges have been filed in the Western District of Louisiana, the Western District of Pennsylvania, and elsewhere against 12 individuals associated with the forum, announced Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney David J. Hickton of the Western District of Pennsylvania and Deputy Director Mark F. Giuliano of the FBI. Working with local, national and international partners, law enforcement were able to arrest an Opelousas man for his role in
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As Part of Coordinated Law Enforcement Efforts in 20 Countries, United States Charges 12 Defendants in Connection with Computer Fraud Conspiracy WASHINGTON – The computer hacking forum known as Darkode was dismantled, and criminal charges have been filed in the Western District of Pennsylvania and elsewhere against 12 individuals associated with the forum, announced Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney David J. Hickton of the Western District of Pennsylvania and Deputy Director Mark F. Giuliano of the FBI. “Hackers and those
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Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that VLADIMIR TSASTSIN pled guilty to wire fraud and computer intrusion charges arising from his operation of a massive and sophisticated Internet fraud scheme that infected with malware more than four million computers located in over 100 countries. The malware secretly altered the settings on infected computers, enabling TSASTSIN and the six other charged defendants – Timur Gerassimenko, Dmitri Jegorov, Valeri Aleksejev, Konstantin Poltev, Andrey Taame, and Anton Ivanov – to digitally hijack Inte
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Earlier today, an indictment was unsealed in Brooklyn federal court charging Ercan Findikoglu, a Turkish citizen also known as “Segate,” with organizing three worldwide cyberattacks that inflicted $55 million in losses on the global financial system in a matter of hours.1 The defendant’s organization used sophisticated intrusion techniques to hack into the systems of global financial institutions, steal prepaid debit card data, and eliminate withdrawal limits. The stolen card data was then disseminated worldwide and used in making fraudulent ATM withdrawals on a massive scale across the globe.
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WASHINGTON – An indictment has been unsealed charging Charles Harvey Eccleston, a former employee of the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), in connection with an attempted e-mail “spear-phishing” attack in January 2015, targeting dozens of Department of Energy employee e-mail accounts. The indictment was announced today by Acting U.S. Attorney Vincent H. Cohen, Jr. of the District of Columbia; Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P. Carlin, and Assistant Director in Charge Andrew G. McCabe of the FBI’s Washington Field Office. The indic
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CONCORD, N.H. –Mustafa H. Arif, an individual with dual citizenship in Pakistan and the United Kingdom, has been indicted for his alleged role in a large-scale international scheme to...
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ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Twin brothers Muneeb and Sohaib Akhter, 23, of Springfield, Virginia, were indicted by a federal grand jury today on charges of aggravated identity theft, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to access a protected computer without authorization, access of a protected computer without authorization, conspiracy to access a government computer without authorization, false statements, and obstruction of justice. According to the indictment, beginning in or about March 2014, the Akhter brothers and coconspirators hacked into the website of a cosmetics company and stole its
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PITTSBURGH – A federal grand jury in Pittsburgh has indicted four people in connection with an international counterfeit currency operation headquartered in the African nation of Uganda, David J. Hickton, United States Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania, announced today. The indictment, returned on April 1, charges Ryan Andrew Gustafson, aka Jack Farrel, aka Willy Clock, 27, a U.S. citizen currently incarcerated in Kampala, Uganda; Zackary L. Ruiz, aka Mr. Mouse, 18, of Las Vegas, Nevada; Jeremy J. Miller, aka Sinner, 30, of Seattle, Washington; and Michael Q. Lin, aka Mlin, aka
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All Four Members Charged Have Now Pleaded Guilty A fourth member of an international computer hacking ring has pleaded guilty to conspiring to break into computer networks of prominent technology companies to steal more than $100 million in intellectual property and other proprietary data. Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Charles M. Oberly III of the District of Delaware and Special Agent in Charge Stephen E. Vogt of the FBI’s Baltimore Division made the announcement. Austin Alcala, 19, of McCordsville, Indiana, pleaded
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NEWARK, N.J. – A Romanian citizen made his initial court appearance today following his extradition to face charges that he orchestrated an international hacking scheme targeting retailers, security companies, medical offices and individuals in the United States, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced. Mircea-Ilie Ispasoiu, 29, of Drobeta-Turnu Severin, Romania, is charged by federal indictment with two counts of wire fraud, two counts of unauthorized computer access to obtain information, two counts of unauthorized computer access that caused damage and three counts of aggravated identity th
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CAMDEN, N.J. – A computer programmer was sentenced today to 24 months in prison for launching a virus that infected approximately 100,000 computers around the world and directed them to attack media outlets that republished stories that mentioned him, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced. In September 2010, a jury returned a guilty verdict against Bruce Raisley, 48, of Kansas City, Mo. – formerly of Monaca, Pa. – following a six-day trial before U.S. District Judge Robert B. Kugler. Raisley was convicted of the count charged in the Indictment on which he was tried: launching a malicious com
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Earlier today, a criminal complaint was unsealed charging Yehuda Katz, a New York City Police Department (NYPD) Auxiliary Deputy Inspector assigned to the 70th Precinct in Brooklyn, with executing a scheme to hack into a restricted NYPD computer and other sensitive law enforcement databases. The defendant was arrested earlier this morning and will have his initial appearance this afternoon at the U.S. Courthouse, 225 Cadman Plaza East, Brooklyn, New York, before United States Magistrate Judge James Orenstein. The charges and arrest were announced by Loretta E. Lynch, United States Attorney for
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ATLANTA - A criminal indictment was unsealed yesterday against Viet Quoc Nguyen and Giang Hoang Vu, both citizens of Vietnam, who resided for a period of time in the Netherlands, for their role in a massive data breach of Email Service Providers all over the United States. In addition, a federal grand jury returned an indictment this week against David-Manuel Santos Da Silva, a citizen of Canada, who is charged with conspiring with Nguyen and others to money launder the proceeds of Nguyen’s computer hacking offenses. “This case reflects the cutting-edge problems posed by today’s cybercrime cas
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One Of The Defendants Has Already Pleaded Guilty An indictment was unsealed yesterday against two Vietnamese citizens who resided in the Netherlands, for their roles in hacking email service providers throughout the United States. The guilty plea of one of the defendants was also unsealed at the same time. In addition, a federal grand jury returned an indictment this week against a Canadian citizen for conspiring to launder the proceeds obtained as a result of the massive data breach. Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Criminal Division, Acting U.S. Attorney John A. Horn of t
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WASHINGTON – The Justice Department, in partnership with the U.S. Department of State’s Transnational Organized Crime (TOC) Rewards Program, announced today a reward of up to $3 million for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of a prolific cyber criminal. Evgeniy Mikhailovich Bogachev was charged with numerous violations for his role as an administrator of the GameOver Zeus botnet. The software was used to capture bank account numbers, passwords, personal identification numbers and other information necessary to log into online banking accounts. It is believed GameOver Zeus is
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LOS ANGELES – A federal grand jury today indicted a Dutch national on federal computer hacking and identity theft charges related to the theft of digital versions of three motion pictures. Joey Vogelaar, who used the online monikers of “TyPeR” and “neXus,” was named in a two-count indictment that alleges unauthorized access to a protected computer and aggravated identity theft. Vogelaar, 28, a resident of Delft, the Netherlands, allegedly stole pre-release digital copies of the Sony Pictures Entertainment film “How Do You Know” and the Paramount production “Rango,” as well as the Dreamworks mo
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Defendant Brought From the Netherlands After Fighting Extradition for Over Two Years NEWARK, N.J. – A Russian national appeared in Newark federal court today after being extradited from the Netherlands to face charges that he conspired in the largest international hacking and data breach scheme ever prosecuted in the United States, New Jersey U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman, U.S. Secret Service Acting Director Joseph P. Clancy and Assistant Attorney General Leslie Caldwell and announced. Vladimir Drinkman, 34, of Syktyykar and Moscow, Russia, was arrested in the Netherlands on June 28, 2012, and
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Defendant Brought From Netherlands After Fighting Extradition for Over Two Years A Russian national appeared in federal court in Newark today after being extradited from the Netherlands to face charges that he conspired in the largest international hacking and data breach scheme ever prosecuted in the United States, announced Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Secretary Jeh Johnson of the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman of the District of New Jersey and Acting Director Joseph P. Clancy of the U.S. Secret S
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SAN JOSE – Nathan Moser, Peter Siragusa, AKA Bobby Russo, Carlo Pacileo, Trent Williams, and Sumit Gupta, AKA Sumit Vishnoi, were charged with crimes related to a conspiracy to access the e-mail accounts, Skype accounts, and computers of people opposing Moser’s and Siragua’s clients’ in civil lawsuits, announced United States Attorney Melinda Haag and Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge David J. Johnson. A federal grand jury indicted Moser, 41, of Menlo Park, Calif.; Siragusa, 59, of Novato, Calif.; Pacileo, 44, of El Segundo, Calif.; Williams, 24, of Martinez, Calif.; and
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"As a unanimous jury has found, Ross William Ulbricht operated Silk Road – a clandestine global marketplace that offered buyers and sellers of illegal goods and services a promise of anonymity. Ulbricht built this black market bazaar to exploit the dark web and the digital currency Bitcoin to allow users to conduct illegal business beyond the reach of law enforcement. Ulbricht’s arrest and conviction – and our seizure of millions of dollars of Silk Road Bitcoins – should send a clear message to anyone else attempting to operate an online criminal enterprise. The supposed anonymity of the dark
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DALLAS — Barrett Lancaster Brown, 33, who has been associated with the hacking group, Anonymous, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Sam A. Lindsay to serve a total of 63 months in federal prison and pay $890,250 in restitution, following his guilty pleas last year to three separate offenses. The announcement was made this afternoon by John Parker, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas (NDTX). In April 2014, Brown pleaded guilty to three separate offenses that essentially resolved all three criminal Indictments pending against him in the NDTX. Pursuant to the plea agre
A Bellevue, Washington resident who assisted in the management of the Silk Road 2.0 website was arrested late last week on a complaint charging him with conspiracy to distribute heroin, methamphetamine, and cocaine, announced Acting United States Attorney Annette L. Hayes. BRIAN RICHARD FARRELL, 26, who used the moniker “DoctorClu” on the Silk Road site came to the attention of Homeland Security Investigations agents last July. Silk Road 2.0 was a hidden website designed to enable its users to buy and sell illegal drugs and other unlawful goods and services anonymously and beyond the reach of
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PITTSBURGH – U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania David J. Hickton and U.S. Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Eric P. Zahren today announced the filing of a criminal complaint in Pittsburgh charging a U.S. citizen with leading an international counterfeit currency operation headquartered in the Republic of Uganda. Ryan Andrew Gustafson, aka Jack Farrel, aka Willy Clock, 27, a U.S. citizen currently residing in Kampala, Uganda, was charged with conspiracy and counterfeiting acts committed outside of the U.S. When he lived in the United States, he mainly resided in Texas a
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Earlier today, the U.S. State Department’s Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program announced the offering of rewards for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Romanian fugitive Nicolae Popescu,1 the leader of an international organized crime syndicate that ran a multimillion dollar cyber fraud scheme, and Dumitru Daniel Bosogioiu,2 another Romanian fugitive charged with participating in the scheme. Up to $1 million is being offered for information on Popescu and up to $750,000 for information on Bosogioiu. Interpol has previously issued Red Notices to foreign law enforce
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A federal indictment was unsealed today charging Arturas Samoilovas, age 35, of Stow, Ohio, with one count of transmitting and attempting to transmit computer codes, programs or commands, intending to cause damage to a protected computer, said Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, and Stephen D. Anthony, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Cleveland office. “This defendant sought to disrupt a company’s operations through its computer system,” Dettelbach said. “Cyber security is a priority for our office, to protect both our national security and the c
Federal law enforcement has taken action against over 400 Tor hidden service .onion addresses, including dozens of “dark market” websites, that were offering a range of illegal goods and services for sale on the “Tor” network, a special network of computers on the Internet designed to conceal the locations of individuals using it. The website addresses and computer servers hosting these websites were seized yesterday as part of a coordinated international law enforcement action involving the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, a
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Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today the extradition of VLADIMIR TSASTSIN from Estonia to face charges of computer intrusion, wire fraud, and money laundering, among other offenses. The charges relate to the alleged operation of a massive and sophisticated Internet fraud scheme that infected with malware more than four million computers located in over 100 countries. The malware secretly altered the settings on infected computers, enabling TSASTSIN and the six other charged defendants –Timur Gerassimenko, Dmitri Jegorov, Valeri Alekse
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NEWARK, N.J. - A Bulgarian national was sentenced today to 30 months in prison for his participation in the Shadowcrew forum, an online marketplace for hacking and identity theft that was the largest of its kind when dismantled by the Department of Justice and the U.S. Secret Service in 2004, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced. Aleksi Kolarov, 32, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge William J. Martini to Count One of an indictment charging him with conspiracy to commit both identity theft and access device fraud. Judge Martini imposed the sentence today in Newark federal
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TULSA, Okla. — Daniel Trenton Krueger, one of two leaders of the computer hacking group known as Team Digi7al, was sentenced today to serve twenty-four months in federal prison for hacking the U.S. Navy, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, and over 50 public and private computer systems, U.S. Attorney Danny C. Williams Sr. announced. Krueger, 20, of Dix, Illinois, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge James H. Payne on May 20, and was initially charged in a single-count information on May 5, 2014. At the time of the hacking Krueger was a student. The co-defendant, Nicholas
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WASHINGTON – A federal grand jury in Seattle returned a second superseding indictment late yesterday charging a Russian national with 11 additional counts and further detailing his alleged scheme to hack into businesses and steal credit card information for later sale over the Internet on “carding” websites. The now 40-count superseding indictment alleges that Roman Valerevich Seleznev, aka “Track2,” 30, of Vladivostok, Russia, was involved in the theft and sale of more than 2 million credit card numbers. Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Divisi
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WILMINGTON, Del. – Four members of an international computer hacking ring have been charged with breaking into computer networks of prominent technology companies and the U.S. Army and stealing more than $100 million in intellectual property and other proprietary data. Two of the charged members have already pleaded guilty. The alleged cyber theft included software and data related to the Xbox One gaming console and Xbox Live online gaming system; popular games such as “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3” and “Gears of War 3”; and proprietary software used to train military helicopter pilots. U.S.
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LOS ANGELES – A federal grand jury has indicted a Chinese national on five felony offenses stemming from a computer hacking scheme that involved the theft of trade secrets from American defense contractors, including The Boeing Company, which manufactures the C-17 military transport aircraft. Su Bin – who also used the names “Stephen Su,” “Stephen Subin” and “Steven Subin” – was named in a five-count indictment returned Thursday afternoon and filed in United States District Court. Su is currently in custody in British Columbia, Canada, where he is being held pursuant to a provisional arrest wa
Accused Russian hacker ROMAN SELEZNEV was ordered detained in federal custody today pending trial scheduled for October 2014. SELEZNEV’s attorneys had asked the court to release him to a furnished apartment in Seattle on a $1 million bond secured by $100,000 in cash, and to essentially place him on house arrest with electronic home monitoring and no access to computers. Magistrate Judge James P. Donohue rejected the defense proposal, however, noting that SELEZNEV has no ties to the Western District of Washington, was a frequent international traveler, has large amounts of money in bank account
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22 defendants have been charged to date; financial institutions report millions of dollars in losses Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, announce that five individuals have been charged in connection with a scheme that uses stolen identification information to gain online access to personal bank accounts in order to steal from unwitting account holders. The charges represent the most recent efforts to neutralize this cybercrime scheme, which has al
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WASHINGTON – A Russian national indicted for hacking into point of sale systems at retailers throughout the United States and operating websites that distributed credit card data of thousands of credit card holders appeared today for arraignment in U.S. federal court, announced U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan of the Western District of Washington and Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Cyber-criminals should take heed: distance will not protect you from the reach of justice. We will investigate, we will locate, and we will bring foreign h
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Orlando, Florida – Senior U.S. District Judge John Antoon, II sentenced Alper Erdogan (35, a Turkish citizen residing in Baku, Azerbaijan) to nine years and four months in federal prison for conspiracy to commit computer hacking, conspiracy to commit credit card fraud, and aggravated identity theft. In February 2014, Erdogan was extradited from the Republic of Georgia, where he had travelled from Azerbaijan, to the United States to face the charges contained in the indictment in this case. Erdogan was initially indicted in September 2012. He pleaded guilty on April 18, 2014. He was sentenced o
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ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Lauri Love, 29, of Stradishall, England, was indicted today by a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia on charges of conspiracy, causing damage to a protected computer, access device fraud and aggravated identity theft. Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Valerie Parlave, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office; John R. Hartman, Deputy Inspector General for Investigations at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE); and Stephen Niemczak, Special Agent in Charge, Computer Crimes Unit at the Office of Inspect
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The Justice Department today filed a status report with the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania updating the court on the progress in disrupting the Gameover Zeus botnet and the malicious software known as Cryptolocker
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ROMAN SELEZNEV, a Russian national indicted in the Western District of Washington for a computer hacking scheme that compromised the financial accounts of credit card customers, was arrested in Guam on July 6, 2014 by law enforcement agents from the U.S. Secret Service. SELEZNEV was indicted in March 2011 for multiple counts of Bank Fraud, Intentional Damage to a Protected Computer, Obtaining Information from a Protected Computer, Possession of Fifteen or More Unauthorized Access Devices, Trafficking in Unauthorized Access Devices, and Aggravated Identity Theft related to a computer hacking sc
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A Russian man, indicted in the Western District of Washington for hacking into point of sale systems at retailers throughout the United States was arrested this weekend and transported to Guam for an initial appearance, announced U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan. ROMAN VALEREVICH SELEZNEV, 30, of Vladivostok, also known as “Track2” in the criminal carding underground, was indicted in March 2011, for operating several carding forums that engaged in the distribution of stolen credit card information. At his first appearance in Guam today, SELEZNEV was ordered detained pending a further hearing sche
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SAN JOSE – Cameron Lacroix was charged today in San Jose with hacking Zendesk, a San Francisco company that provides helpdesk support to numerous companies, including Twitter, announced U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag and FBI Special Agent in Charge David J. Johnson. According to the criminal information, Lacroix, 25, of New Bedford, Mass., hacked into Zendesk’s website in February 2013 and disabled a security feature designed to limit who can view information pertaining to Zendesk’s customers. The information charges that Lacroix exported approximately one million Twitter support tickets to comput
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CHICAGO — A Tennessee man was arrested and charged with federal computer hacking for allegedly conspiring to launch cyber attacks on two universities and three companies since last summer, federal law enforcement officials announced today. The defendant, TIMOTHY JUSTIN FRENCH, is allegedly associated with a group of individuals, known as “NullCrew,” who have claimed responsibility for dozens of high-profile computer attacks against corporations, educational institutions, and government agencies. French, 20, was arrested without incident by FBI agents at his home in Morristown, Tenn., east of K
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ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Marcel Lehel Lazar, 42, of Arad, Romania, also known as the hacker “Guccifer,” was indicted by a federal grand jury today on charges of wire fraud, unauthorized access to a protected computer, aggravated identity theft, cyberstalking and obstruction of justice Dana J. Boente, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Special Agent in Charge Edward Lowery of the United States Secret Service Criminal Investigative Division, Assistant Director in Charge Valerie Parlave
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Miami Task Force Targets Cyber Fraud Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, announce the arrests of eight individuals charged in four separate cases for their alleged participation in various cyber fraud schemes. The cases announced today are, in large part, the result of the Miami Cyber Task Force (MCTF) initiative launched by the FBI in January 2014. The MCTF initiative is designed to combat the growing cyber fraud threat in South Florida. The MCTF
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BOSTON – A New Bedford man was charged today with hacking into computer networks around the country – including networks belonging to law enforcement agencies, a local police department and a local college – and obtaining highly sensitive law enforcement data and altering academic records. He also obtained stolen credit, debit and payment card numbers. Cameron Lacroix, 25, was charged with two counts of computer intrusion and one count of access device fraud. Lacroix has agreed to plead guilty. If the plea agreement is accepted by the court, Lacroix will be sentenced to four years in prison to
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A Massachusetts man was charged today with allegedly hacking into computer networks around the country – including networks belonging to law enforcement agencies, a local police department and a local college – to obtain highly sensitive law enforcement data and alter academic records.
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WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Justice Department today announced a multi-national effort to disrupt the Gameover Zeus Botnet – a global network of infected victim computers used by cyber criminals to steal millions of dollars from businesses and consumers – and unsealed criminal charges in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Omaha, Nebraska, against an administrator of the botnet. In a separate action, U.S. and foreign law enforcement officials worked together to seize computer servers central to the malicious software or “malware” known as Cryptolocker, a form of “ransomware” that encrypts the files on vi
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TRENTON, N.J. – Two members of an alleged international cybercrime, identity theft and credit card fraud conspiracy today admitted their roles in a scheme to use information hacked from customer accounts at more than a dozen banks, brokerage firms, payroll processing companies and government agencies to attempt to steal $15 million from customers, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced. Richard Gundersen, 47, of Brooklyn, N.Y., pleaded guilty to an indictment charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, access device fraud and identity theft. Lamar Taylor, 38, of Salem, Mas
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WASHINGTON - The National Security Division’s mission is to protect our nation’s security by using every legal tool available to confront and defeat threats to our country. Today, that tool is an indictment backed by the independence and credibility of our criminal justice system. The threat is from members of unit 61398 of the Chinese military, who have targeted the U.S. private sector for commercial advantage. We allege that members of unit 61398 conspired to hack into computers of six U.S. victims to steal information that would provide an economic advantage to the victims’ competitors, inc
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The Charges Are Part of the Largest-Ever Global Cyber Law Enforcement Operation, Involving More than 90 Arrests and Other Law Enforcement Actions in 19 Countries Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and George Venizelos, the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced today the unsealing of an indictment charging ALEX YÜCEL, the owner of an organization known as “Blackshades,” that since 2010, has sold and distributed to thousands of people in more than 100 countries a sophistica
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First Time Criminal Charges are Filed Against Known State Actors for Hacking WASHINGTON—A grand jury in the Western District of Pennsylvania (WDPA) indicted five Chinese military hackers for computer hacking, economic espionage and other offenses directed at six American victims in the U.S. nuclear power, metals and solar products industries. The indictment alleges that the defendants conspired to hack into American entities, to maintain unauthorized access to their computers and to steal information from those entities that would be useful to their competitors in China, including state-owned
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TULSA, Okla. — Today, the United States charged two men for their participation in a conspiracy to hack into the computer systems of over 30 public and private organizations, including the United States Navy and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, announced Northern District of Oklahoma United States Attorney Danny C. Williams Sr. The single-count Information alleges that Nicholas Paul Knight, 27, of Chantilly, Virginia, and Daniel Trenton Krueger, 20, of Salem, Illinois, conspired to hack computers and computer systems as part of a plan to steal identities, obstruct justice, and damage a
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Pleas Resolve All Criminal Cases Pending Against Defendant in Northern District of Texas DALLAS — Barrett Lancaster Brown, who has been associated with the hacking group, Anonymous, appeared in federal court this morning before U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul D. Stickney and pleaded guilty to three separate offenses that essentially resolve all three criminal indictments pending against him in the Northern District of Texas (NDTX), announced U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña. Plea negotiations between the United States Attorney’s Office in the NDTX and Brown resulted in filing of a plea agreement and
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McALLEN, Texas - A federal grand jury has returned a second superseding indictment against Fidel Salinas, 27, of Donna, adding additional attempted computer-hacking charges and 18 counts of cyberstalking, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson. According to the criminal complaint originally filed in the case, Salinas is allegedly linked to the computer-hacking group Anonymous. With the return of the second superseding indictment today, he now faces 44 charges arising out of his alleged attempts in 2011-2012 to hack into the computers of Hidalgo County, La Joya Independent School District and
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Orlando, Florida – United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces that Alper Erdogan (35, a Turkish citizen residing in Baku, Azerbaijan) today pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit computer hacking, conspiracy to commit credit card fraud, and two counts of aggravated identity theft. Erdogan faces a maximum penalty of 14 years in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been scheduled. Erdogan was originally indicted in September 2012. According to the plea agreement, in September 2010, the United States Secret Service (USSS) learned that the computer servers of a hotel in San Dieg
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Nine alleged members of a wide-ranging racketeering enterprise and conspiracy who infected thousands of business computers with malicious software known as “Zeus” have been charged in an indictment unsealed today in Lincoln, Neb.
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McALLEN, Texas – Fidel Salinas, 27, of Donna, has been charged in a superceding federal indictment with new computer-hacking charges, announced United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson. Salinas was originally indicted in October of last year on one charge of attempting to gain unauthorized access to the Hidalgo County web server and, as a result, causing damage and loss of more than $5,000. Further investigation has resulted in the return of a superseding indictment, returned April 2, 2014, alleging 14 additional charges. He is excepted to make his initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judg
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PHOENIX – On April 7, 2014, Daniel David Rigmaiden, 34, formerly of Santa Clara, Calif., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge David G. Campbellto 68 months in custody (time served) and ordered to perform 100 hours of community service during a three-year term of supervised release. Restitution of over $395,000 was satisfied by the forfeiture and abandonment of Rigmaiden’s seized assets totaling over $470,000. Immediately prior to sentencing, Rigmaiden pleaded guilty to conspiracy, mail fraud and two counts of wire fraud. “This sentence and asset forfeiture reflects the seriousness of Rigmaiden
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PHILADELPHIA - Michael Crockett, 29, of Kansas City, Missouri, was charged today by Information with attempting to intentionally damage a computer, announced United States Attorney Zane David Memeger. The Information alleges that between September 24 and 26, 2012, Crocket knowingly caused the transmission of codes and commands to a computer hosting the City of Philadelphia’s website, www.phila.gov, in an attempt to shut down that website. This type of attack is known as and described as a distributed denial of service attack (DDOS). Crockett’s actions caused a loss to the city of more than $5,
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Organization Allegedly Capitalized on Information Hacked From The Customers of More Than a Dozen Global Financial Institutions NEWARK, N.J. – Three alleged members of an international cybercrime, money laundering and identity theft conspiracy were charged in New Jersey today with a scheme to use information hacked from customer accounts held at more than a dozen banks, brokerage firms, payroll processing companies and government agencies in an attempt to steal at least $15 million from American customers, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced. The three defendants – Oleksiy Sharapka, 33, and
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SAN DIEGO – Two men are charged in indictments unsealed this week with hacking into the computer servers of a major U.S. mortgage broker to steal personal information and use it to siphon funds from the brokerage accounts of thousands of victims. Jason Ray Bailey and Victor Alejandro Fernandez were charged in a two-count indictment with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and computer hacking. Bailey was arraigned today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jan Adler; Fernandez was arraigned on Wednesday. According to charging documents, both men are part of a Tijuana-based conspiracy that hacked the compu
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Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and George Venizelos, the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced today the unsealing of an indictment charging LAURI LOVE, a citizen of the United Kingdom, with computer hacking and aggravated identity theft. The charges stem from LOVE’s efforts in late 2012 and early 2013 to secretly infiltrate computer servers belonging to the Federal Reserve Bank (the “Federal Reserve”), remove non-public information from those servers, and publicly disclose
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NEWARK, N.J. - A Bulgarian national today admitted his participation in the Shadowcrew forum, an online marketplace for hacking and identity theft that was the largest of its kind when dismantled by the Department of Justice and the U.S. Secret Service in 2004, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced. Aleksi Kolarov, 31, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge William J. Martini in Newark federal court to Count One of the indictment, which charges him with conspiracy to commit both identity theft and access device fraud. “Aleksi Kolorov has now admitted his role in the most notorious online
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PHILADELPHIA - David Barnhouse, 24, of Horsham, PA, was charged today by superseding indictment with emailing a bomb threat to the Willow Grove Park Mall website and hacking a computer to make it appear as if someone else sent the threat. Barnhouse is charged with threats, unauthorized access to a protected computer, resisting and impeding federal officers, obstruction of service of judicial process, destruction of records in a federal investigation, and destruction of property to prevent seizure. According to the indictment, on June 20, 2013, Barnhouse hacked into the Verizon FiOS router of h
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LOS ANGELES – As part of an international law enforcement operation involving Romania, India and China, federal prosecutors have charged two operators of a United States-based email hacking website, as well as three customers of other hacking websites based in other nations, with computer fraud offenses. In a series of cases filed in Los Angeles earlier this week, prosecutors charged all five domestic defendants with obtaining unauthorized access to email accounts. All five defendants are expected to plead guilty in the coming weeks. The domestic cases were announced today after authorities in
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LOS ANGEL ES – The FBI arrested two men this morning for allegedly conspiring to hack into victims’ e-mail accounts to steal nude photos that were later posted on the “revenge porn” website isanyoneup.com. Hunter Moore, 27, of Woodland, who operated isanyoneup.com, and Charles Evens, 25, of Studio City, were arrested without incident by special agents with the FBI. Both men are expected to make initial court appearances this afternoon – Moore in federal court in Sacramento, and Evens in United States District Court in Los Angeles. Moore and Evens are charged in a 15-count indictment unsealed a
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ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Jonathan Hartwell Wolberg, 31, of Tucson, Az., pleaded guilty today to intentionally causing damage to a protected computer. Dana J. Boente, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Valerie Parlave, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, made the announcement after the plea was accepted by United States District Judge Liam O’Grady. Wolberg was indicted on August 22, 2013 by a federal grand jury on charges related to computer hacking. Wolberg faces a maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment when he is sentenced on Apr
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BROOKLYN, NY – Earlier today, at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn, New York, Roman Vega, one of the world’s most prolific cybercriminals, was sentenced to 18 years in prison. Vega, a Ukrainian national who co-founded the notorious Internet website CarderPlanet, pled guilty in 2009 to conspiracies to commit money laundering and access device fraud. At the time of his arrest, Vega possessed over half a million stolen credit card numbers. The sentence was announced today by Loretta E. Lynch, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythi
BROOKLYN, NY – Earlier today, five defendants were arrested in connection with their participation in the massive cyberheist campaign that inflicted $45 million in losses on the global financial system in a matter of hours in early 2013. Defendants Anthony Diaz, Saul Franjul, Saul Genao, Jaindhi Polanco and Jose Angeley Valerio were members of the New York-based cell of the international cybercrime organization, which used sophisticated intrusion techniques to hack into the systems of financial institutions, steal prepaid debit card data, and make fraudulent ATM withdrawals on a global scale.
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Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that EDWIN VARGAS, a detective with the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”), pled guilty to computer hacking crimes. Specifically, VARGAS paid others to hack into e-mail accounts, including e-mail accounts belonging to other NYPD officers and employees, and also accessed a federal law enforcement database without authorization to obtain information about other NYPD officers. VARGAS was arrested in Bronxville, New York, in May 2013. He pled guilty before U.S. District Judge P. Kevin Castel. Man
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Romanian national Aurel Cojocaru has been extradited to the United States from the Czech Republic to face charges related to his participation in a sophisticated multimillion dollar cyber fraud scheme that targeted consumers on U.S.-based Internet marketplace websites such as eBay.com. Cojocaru specialized in making high-quality fraudulent passports to open U.S. bank accounts used to launder the stolen funds. His extradition followed a coordinated international takedown in December 2012 during which law enforcement officials in Romania, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, and Canada, actin
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NEWARK, N.J. – The New Jersey U.S. Attorney’s Office has charged an alleged hacker in the United Kingdom with breaching thousands of computer systems in the United States and elsewhere – including the computer networks of federal agencies – to steal massive quantities of confidential data, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced. The federal indictment, filed in Newark federal court, charges Lauri Love, 28, of Stradishall, England, with one count of accessing a U.S. department or agency computer without authorization and one count of conspiring to do the same. An investigation led by the U.S.
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ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Lauri Love, 28, of Stradishall, England was charged in a criminal complaint unsealed today with conspiracy to access and damage the protected computer networks of multiple U.S. government agencies. Dana J. Boente, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Valerie Parlave, Assistant Director in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Washington Field Office; John R. Hartman, Deputy Inspector General for Investigations at the U.S. Department of Energy; and Nick DiGiulio, Special Agent in Charge, Office of Inspector General, U.S. Department of H
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Earlier today, charges were unsealed against Romanian fugitive Nicolae Popescu, the leader of an international organized crime syndicate that ran a multimillion dollar cyber fraud scheme, and six other fugitives charged with participating in the same scheme. Interpol has issued red notices to foreign law enforcement partners seeking assistance in the apprehension of these fugitives, and the FBI has also released “Wanted” posters to facilitate their arrests. The charges were announced by Loretta E. Lynch, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; George Venizelos, Assistant D
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ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Bosung Shim, 24, of Rockville, MD, was sentenced today to three months in prison, followed by seven months in community confinement and three years of supervised release, for unauthorized access of a protected computer. In addition, Shim was required to pay $31,653.24 in restitution to the victim and forfeit the computer equipment used in the crime. Dana J. Boente, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Kathy A. Michalko, Special Agent in Charge for the United States Secret Service’s Washington Field Office, made the announcement after sentenc
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ROCHESTER, N.Y.--U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today ANNETTE KENDRICK, 40, of Marietta, Georgia was arraigned before Magistrate Judge Marian W. Payson, pursuant to her being charged in a Criminal Complaint with intentionally causing damage to a protected computer domain in violation of Title 18, United States code, Section 1030(a)(5)(A). The charges carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, a fine of $250,000 or both. Assistant U.S. Attorney Bradley E. Tyler stated that in April 2013, employees of Iberdrola, a company headquartered in Rochester, New York, reported that Ib
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Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and George Venizelos, the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced today the unsealing of an indictment against a Russian hacker, ALEKSANDR KALININ, a/k/a “Grig,” a/k/a “g,” a/k/a “tempo,” for hacking certain computer servers used by the NASDAQ Stock Market (“NASDAQ”). In a separate indictment also unsealed today, KALININ and another Russian hacker, NIKOLAY NASENKOV, were charged with an international scheme to steal bank account information by h
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Hackers Targeted Major Payment Processors, Retailers and Financial Institutions Around the World NEWARK, N.J. – A federal indictment made public today in New Jersey charges five men with conspiring in a worldwide hacking and data breach scheme that targeted major corporate networks, stole more than 160 million credit card numbers, resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in losses and is the largest such scheme ever prosecuted in the United States. New Jersey U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced the charges today along withSpecial Agent in Charge James Mottola of the U.S. Secret Service
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NEWARK, N.J. – Aleksi Kolarov, 30, will appear in Newark federal court today after being extradited from Paraguay to face U.S. charges he participated in the Shadowcrew forum, an online marketplace for hacking and identity theft that was the largest of its kind when dismantled by the Department of Justice and the U.S. Secret Service in 2004, New Jersey U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced. A Bulgarian national, Kolarov evaded capture until June 14, 2011, when Paraguayan law enforcement authorities arrested him at a hotel in Asunción, Paraguay. He was found in possession of hundreds of thous
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New Arrest: British citizen Christopher Gardner, residing in Farmingdale, LI, arrested by FBI agents and charged in the attached complaint for hacking former employer Dan’s Papers web files, and disabling company’s website. Defendant Faces up to 10 years in Prison.
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KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a former student of the University of Central Missouri was sentenced in federal court today for his role in a computer hacking conspiracy. Joseph A. Camp, 29, of Kansas City, Mo., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Brian C. Wimes to three years in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Camp to pay $61,500 in restitution. Camp has been in state or federal custody since his prior arrest in a New York investigation in December 2009. Federal charges are still pending in
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Revenue share fraud cost companies millions in losses NEWARK, N.J. – A German citizen today admitted his role in an international conspiracy that hacked into the telephone systems of large corporations and entities in the United States and around the world to make telephone calls, causing tens of millions of dollars in losses, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced. Wolfgang Uelpenich, 44, of Zug, Switzerland, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Katharine Hayden in Newark federal court to an information charging him with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Uelpenich was arrested by FBI age
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Organization Allegedly Capitalized on Information Hacked From More Than a Dozen Global Financial Institutions NEWARK, N.J. – Eight alleged members of an international cybercrime, money laundering and identity theft conspiracy are federally charged in New Jersey with a scheme to use information hacked from customer accounts held at more than a dozen banks, brokerage firms, payroll processing companies and government agencies in an attempt to steal at least $15 million from U.S. customers, New Jersey U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced. The eight defendants are charged together in a criminal
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PITTSBURGH - A Mt. Washington couple pleaded guilty in federal court to charges of recklessly damaging a computer and password trafficking, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today. Jonathan Cunningham, 29, and Alyson Cunningham, 25, both of Pittsburgh, Pa., pleaded guilty to two counts of the five-count superseding indictment before United States District Judge David S. Cercone. In connection with the guilty plea, the court was advised that on Nov. 28, 2011, Alyson Cunningham had been fired from a law firm located in Pittsburgh, referred to as "VG," In retaliation for the firin
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ALBUQUERQUE – U.S. Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales and Carol K.O. Lee, Special Agent in Charge of the Albuquerque Division of the FBI, announced that a federal grand jury has indicted Jamie Estrada, 40, of Los Lunas, N.M., on computer intrusion and false statement charges. The charges against Estrada arise out of the interception of wire communications intended for others, including New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez and members of her staff. Counts 1 through 12 of the 14-count indictment allege that Estrada unlawfully intercepted wire communication intended for individuals who had email account
Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and George Venizelos, the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced today the arrest of EDWIN VARGAS, a detective with the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”), for computer hacking crimes. VARGAS was arrested this morning outside his residence in Bronxville, New York, and will be presented in Manhattan federal court later today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn. Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “As alleged, Detective Edwin
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TRENTON, N.J. – The central organizer of a worldwide conspiracy to manipulate stock prices through a “botnet” network of virus-controlled computers was sentenced today in Trenton federal court to 71 months in prison, New Jersey U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced. Christopher Rad, 44, of Cedar Park, Texas, was previously convicted, following a 9-day jury trial, of six counts arising from the fraud scheme: conspiring to further securities fraud using spam; conspiring to transmit spam through unauthorized access to computers; and four counts of transmission of spam by unauthorized computers.
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A four-count federal indictment was unsealed in Brooklyn charging eight defendants with participating in two worldwide cyberattacks that inflicted $45 million in losses on the global financial system in a matter of hours. 1 These defendants allegedly formed the New York-based cell of an international cybercrime organization that used sophisticated intrusion techniques to hack into the systems of global financial institutions, steal prepaid debit card data, and eliminate withdrawal limits. The stolen card data was then disseminated worldwide and used in making fraudulent ATM withdrawals on a ma
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Romanian nationals Cristea Mircea, Ion Pieptea, and Nicolae Simion will make their first appearance before United States District Judge Edward R. Korman later today following their extradition to the United States from Romania. The defendants are charged with participating in a sophisticated multimillion dollar cyber fraud scheme that targeted consumers on U.S.-based Internet marketplace websites such as eBay.com. Their extradition followed a coordinated international takedown in December 2012, during which law enforcement officials in Romania, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, and Canad
A criminal complaint was unsealed today in federal court in the Eastern District of New York charging Michael Meneses with hacking into the computer network of a company that manufactures high-voltage power supplies, causing the company over $90,000 in damage. Meneses was arrested earlier today in Smithtown, Long Island, and his initial appearance is scheduled for this afternoon before United States Magistrate Judge Gary Brown at the United States Courthouse, 100 Federal Plaza, Central Islip, New York. The charges were announced by Loretta E. Lynch, United States Attorney for the Eastern Distr
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SAN FRANCISCO - David Nosal, an executive recruiter based in San Francisco, was convicted of all charges in a six-count Indictment by a federal jury today, United States Attorney Melinda Haag announced. The jury found that Nosal had conspired to gain unauthorized access to the computer system of his former employer, the executive search firm Korn/Ferry International, and to illegally obtain trade secrets belonging to Korn/Ferry. The jury also found Nosal guilty of three substantive computer intrusions in April and July 2005, and two substantives trade secret offenses that occurred in April 200
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KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a former student of the University of Central Missouri pleaded guilty in federal court today to his role in a computer hacking conspiracy. Joseph A. Camp, 28, of Kansas City, Mo., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Brian C. Wimes to the charge contained in a Nov. 18, 2010 federal indictment. Camp has been in state or federal custody since his prior arrest in a New York investigation in December 2009. Federal charges are still pending in the Western District of New York. By ple
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WICHITA, KAN. – A Wisconsin man has been charged with taking part in a cyber-attack on Koch Industries in Wichita that was organized by a group called Anonymous, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said today. Eric J. Rosol , 37, Black Creek, Wis., is charged with one count of conspiracy to damage a protected computer and one count of damaging a protected computer. The indictment alleges the following: In February 2011, a loosely organized group of computer hackers called Anonymous began using Internet Relay Chat (IRC) channels to advertise a dedicated denial of service attack against Koch industries
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Two California men have been charged in an indictment unsealed today in Boston with remotely hacking into merchants’ computerized cash registers in order to obtain fraudulent gift cards.
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BOSTON – In an indictment unsealed late yesterday, two California men have been charged with remotely hacking into the computerized cash registers of a number of Subway restaurants in order to fraudulently obtain gift cards. On March 6, Shahin Abdollahi (aka Sean Holdt), 46, of Lake Elsinore, Calif., and Jeffrey Thomas Wilkinson, 35, of Rialto, Calif., were both charged with one count of conspiracy to commit computer intrusion and wire fraud, and one count of wire fraud. According to the indictment, Abdollahi owned Subway franchises in Southern California from 2005 to 2008, and later operated
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A former web producer for a Tribune Company-owned television station in Sacramento, Calif., was charged today in an indictment for allegedly conspiring with members of the hacker group “Anonymous” to hack into and alter a Tribune Company website.
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TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA – Carl Joseph Coutard, 21, and Carliss Pereira, 22, both of Miami, Florida, and Christopher J. Wright, 22, of Fort Lauderdale, have been charged with conspiring to access the iRattler computer system at the Florida A&M University (FAMU) in order to divert financial aid monies to themselves. The indictment was announced today by Pamela C. Marsh, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Florida. The eight-count indictment alleges that between March and November 2010, the three men illegally used the personal identifying information of their fellow FAMU students, without th
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A Dutch citizen who was arrested and extradited from Romania was sentenced today to 12 years in prison for a computer hacking and credit card fraud scheme that victimized people around the world, announced U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan. DAVID BENJAMIN SCHROOTEN, 22, also known in the hacking world as ‘Fortezza’ pleaded guilty in November 2012 to Conspiracy to Commit Access Device Fraud and Bank Fraud, Access Device Fraud, Bank Fraud, Intentional Damage to a Protected Computer, and Aggravated Identity Theft. At sentencing U.S. District Judge Ricardo S. Martinez asked him, “I don’t think you wou
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Defendant Allegedly Coerced Young Women to Expose Themselves on Internet LOS ANGELES – A Glendale man accused of hacking into hundreds of Facebook, Skype and email accounts and extorting women into showing him their naked bodies was arrested today on federal computer hacking charges. Karen “Gary” Kazaryan, 27, was arrested this morning without incident by special agents with the FBI. Kazaryan, who was named in a 30-count indictment returned last Friday by a federal grand jury, is being arraigned this afternoon in United States District Court. According to the indictment, Kazaryan gained unauth
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NASA Computers Among the 40,000 U.S. Computers Infected With Gozi Virus Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Lanny A. Breuer, the Assistant Attorney General of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Criminal Division, and George Venizelos, the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced today the unsealing of Indictments against three individuals who played critical roles in creating and distributing the Gozi Virus, one of the most financially destructive computer viruses in history. T
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Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that VLADIMIR ZDOROVENIN, a Russian national, was sentenced today in Manhattan federal court to three years in prison in connection with a series of sophisticated international cyber crimes. ZDOROVENIN, who was initially charged in January 2012 with his son, Kirill Zdorovenin, pled guilty in February 2012 to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of wire fraud, for his involvement in the schemes. He was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Paul G. Gardephe. Manhattan U.S. Attorney P
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In a coordinated international takedown, law enforcement officials in Romania, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom and Canada, acting on provisional arrest requests made by the United States, arrested six Romanian nationals today for their alleged involvement in a sophisticated multimillion dollar cyber fraud scheme that targeted consumers on U.S.-based Internet marketplace websites.
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Anil Kheda, 24, of the Netherlands, is charged with one count of conspiring to commit computer intrusion and one count of making extortionate interstate threats.
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John Bryan Villegas, 21, of Kittery, Maine, was arrested yesterday and made his initial appearance today in federal court in New Hampshire.
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Andrew James Miller, 23, of Devon, Penn., was arrested this morning on charges contained in a four-count indictment filed in the District of Massachusetts.
Fourteen individuals were arrested today by FBI agents on charges related to their alleged involvement in a cyber attack on PayPal’s website as part of an action claimed by the group “Anonymous,” announced the Department of Justice and the FBI. Two additional defendants were arrested today on cyber-related charges.
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An ongoing Internet fraud scheme conducted by several networks of organized cyber criminals in Romania and the United States has been disrupted as a result of a series of law enforcement actions coordinated since 2010 between Romanian and U.S. law enforcement, including numerous arrests and searches that took place yesterday in Romania.
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Today the Department of Justice and the FBI, along with international law enforcement partners, announced the indictment of two individuals from Latvia and the seizure of more than 40 computers, servers and bank accounts as part of Operation Trident Tribunal, an ongoing, coordinated enforcement action targeting international cybercrime.
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Today the Department of Justice and FBI announced the filing of a civil complaint, the execution of criminal seizure warrants, and the issuance of a temporary restraining order as part of the most complete and comprehensive enforcement action ever taken by U.S authorities to disable an international botnet.
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Mikalai Mardakhayeu, a Belarusian national residing in Nantucket, Mass., was arrested Wednesday night and charged for his alleged participation in an international online “phishing” scheme to steal income tax refunds intended for U.S. taxpayers around the country.
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Sergei Tsurikov, 25, of Tallinn, Estonia; Viktor Pleshchuk, 28, of St. Petersburg, Russia; Oleg Covelin, 28, of Chisinau, Moldova; and a person known only as "Hacker 3;" have been indicted by a federal grand jury in Atlanta, Ga., on charges of hacking into a computer network operated by the Atlanta-based credit card processing company RBS WorldPay, which is part of the Royal Bank of Scotland.
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Albert Gonzalez, 28, of Miami, Fla., was indicted today for conspiring to hack into computer networks supporting major American retail and financial organizations, and stealing data relating to more than 130 million credit and debit cards. Among the corporate victims named in the indictment are Heartland Payment Systems, a New Jersey-based card payment processor; 7-Eleven Inc., a Texas-based nationwide convenience store chain; and Hannaford Brothers Co. Inc., a Maine-based supermarket chain.
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Philip Gabriel Pettersson, aka "Stakkato," 21, a Swedish national, was indicted today on intrusion and trade secret theft charges.