A criminal group with the participation of Russians turned a scam in the United States for millions of dollars

Four people, including two citizens of Russia and immigrants from Lithuania and Estonia, have pleaded guilty to the spread of virus programs, as well as cyber attacks on financial institutions and individuals in the United States. This is stated on the site US Department of Justice.

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According to court documents, 34-year-old Alexander Grichishkin and Andrei Skvortsov are Russian citizens; 33-year-old Alexander Skorodumov from Lithuania; Pavel Stassi, 30, from Estonia, were the founders and members of a criminal organization.

The group rented IP addresses, servers and domains for cybercriminal clients who used this technical infrastructure to distribute malware to gain access to victims' computers, form botnets and steal bank credentials for fraudulent purposes.

The malware hosted by the organization included Zeus, SpyEye, Citadel, and the Blackhole Exploit Kit, which rampantly attacked American companies and financial institutions from 2009 to 2015, causing or attempting to cause millions of dollars in losses.

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The main service provided by the defendants was to help their clients avoid detection by law enforcement agencies and to continue their crimes incessantly.

“Every day, transnational, organized cybercriminals use malware that disrupts our economy and targets our citizens and businesses,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicholas McQuade of the Justice Department's Criminal Division. — Criminal organizations that purposefully help these entities are so-called bulletproof hosters, money launderers, providers of stolen identification data, etc. They bear no less responsibility for the harm caused by these harmful campaigns, and we are committed to holding them accountable.”

“Online fraud has had a serious economic impact on our community, our entire country, and our entire world,” said Acting. O. United States Attorney Saima S. Mohsin. “An essential part of fighting fraud involves vigorously investigating and prosecuting individuals like these 'bulletproof hosters' who allow scammers to target people online.”

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“For years, the defendants facilitated the transnational criminal activities of a vast network of cybercriminals around the world by providing them with a safe haven to anonymize their criminal activities,” said Special Agent in Charge Timothy Waters of the FBI. “This has resulted in millions of dollars in losses for victims in the United States.” "Today's guilty plea sends a message to cyber criminals around the world that they are not beyond the reach of the FBI and its international partners, and that anyone who facilitates or benefits from criminal cyber activity will be held accountable."

According to court records and statements made in connection with the plea of ​​guilt, Grichishkin and Skvortsov were founding members of the organization and its owners. Skvortsov was in charge of marketing the organization's criminal business and was a contact person for clients, while Grichishkin acted as the day-to-day head of the organization and managed its staff.

Skorodumov was one of the leading system administrators of the organization, and sometimes the only system administrator. In this role, he configured and managed customer domains and IP addresses, provided technical assistance to help customers optimize their malware and botnets, and tracked and responded to abuse notifications.

Stassi performed various administrative tasks for the organization, including conducting and tracking online marketing for the organization's criminal customers and using stolen or false personal information to register web hosting and financial accounts used by the organization.

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