Alleged Muscovite cybercrime daddy hauled in to face US court
Feds allege père et fils duo scooped $100ks using malware
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A suspected Russian cyber-crook has arrived in the US to face charges of security fraud, computer hacking and ID theft following his deportation from Switzerland.
Vladimir Zdorovenin, 54, of Moscow, Russia, is alleged to have masterminded a series of credit card theft and stock manipulation scams in conjunction with his son, Kirill Zdorovenin, who has not been apprehended.
Both were charged in May 2007, long before Zdorovenin senior was cuffed in Zurich last March. He was deported this week just before a scheduled appearance at a Manhattan federal court on Tuesday.
According to the FBI, the duo's stock in trade allegedly involved hacking into computers in order to steal credit card details and brokerage account log-ins. The pair would then allegedly run a series of complicated frauds netting hundreds of thousands of dollars. The FBI said that compromised credit account details – lifted using malware – were used to make fictitious fraudulent purchases to shell companies allegedly established by the suspects, while compromised brokerage accounts were used to purchase shares held by the pair at ramped-up (artificially inflated) prices.
The father-and-son suspects are accused of frauds which targeted US consumers and ran during 2004 and 2005, according to an FBI statement on the case.
FBI assistant director Janice K Fedarcyk explains in the statement: "Zdorovenin’s egregious behavior illustrated the true colors of the cyber underground, as he and his son allegedly defrauded consumers of hundreds of thousands of dollars using methods that included compromised credit cards, all fronted through fictitious companies they had created. In addition, Zdorovenin allegedly installed malware to access victims’ brokerage accounts, trading victims' securities and manipulating the price of stocks Zdorovenin already owned.
"This should serve as a stark reminder to anyone who believes he can commit cyber crime and hide behind the safety and anonymity of a Russian IP address; you are not beyond the reach of the FBI,” she added.
The Russian constitution specifically prohibits the extradition of its citizens, so it is fortunate for the US authorities investigating the case that Zdorovenin strayed into Switzerland. ®
COMMENTS
Seriously, is that the best you can do?
Seriously, is that the best you can do? You cannot work up any more vitriol that that? What kind of European are you, man? This is AMERICA, THE ULTIMATE EVIL(TM) we are talking about here? If you cannot work up a better hate then that you're going to lose your license!
I mean really, not one GITMO reference - not one intimation that these poor souls who did nothing wrong but anger THE GREAT WHITE SATAN are going to be "disappeared" into that Caribbean Gulag, never to be seen again? For shame!
And not one mention of how they were snatched from Switzerland, just like poor Julian is afraid of being? How can you miss such a golden opportunity to play on the fears of another good, just, and honorable person persecuted by the EEEEEEEEVIIIIIIIL US!
No assertions that this whole thing is a ruse by the US to distract the world from our role in the grounding of the cruse liner (There was a GPS on board, wasn't there? And it was steered right into the rocks - coincidence? I THINK NOT!!!!!) Or that this is revenge for the poor Russians daring to suggest we damaged their Mars probe with our "radar" (which obviously must be more of an cross between SDI/Star Wars and a mind control raygun).
No mention of how some septics (after all, it's OK to make fun of us, even if we aren't allowed to reciprocate) are voting for a man who wants to be an EEEEVIIIILLLLL Isolationist (Dr. Paul) - HOW DARE WE WANT TO NOT BE INVOLVED WITH WORLD AFFAIRS!
Get yourself a proper lather up! After all, wouldn't the world be better if we JUST WENT AWAY (the previous paragraph notwithstanding - after all, consistency with respect to the US is not only not required, but actively discouraged!)
Feels deja-vu...
"compromised brokerage accounts were used to purchase shares held by the pair at ramped-up (artificially inflated) prices."
Isn't it the modus operandi for Twitter/Groupon/Facebook IPOs?
"..let's not ignore the facts that technological progress is: a) a process with a considerable degree of intertwining between the respective actors, b) characterized with the phenomenon that the causative agent is more often pent up demand which effects an emergence of new technology, rather than a whim of some singular, irreplaceable genius?"
That is actually the point I was trying to make. However you feel about the US, it has contributed mightily to the Internet as it is today, both in technology and in content. Not all of it good, but then, no country can say that. But cutting off a country because you don't agree with it puts you in the same camp as the SOPA/PIPA supporters.
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