Top hacker arrested for selling bank details on thousands of accounts

Ukrainian hacker arrested for distributing malware

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A hacker who was stealing, and then selling, access to bank accounts from people in the United States and Canada, has been was arrested.

Ukrainian police arrested a 31-year-old man who was gaining access to these accounts by offering compromised commercial software for free across Windows and Android victims.

The person, whose identity remains unknown at the time, propped up multiple websites and created different advertising campaigns for those sites. On them, he hosted “cracked” commercial software, which people could download and run for free. However, this software also came withmalwarethat stole people’s login credentials and other sensitive information.

Earning hundreds of thousands of dollars

The entire operation was run from his bedroom, images posted with the report seem to suggest.

The hacker used the login information to access the victims’Googleaccounts, as well as banking services. Finally, he used a telephone with a Russian number to communicate with potential buyers, selling access for bitcoin on the dark web.

At this time, it’s difficult to determine how much money the hacker obtained this way. The police believe he amassed at least $92,000 from his sales, but the actual number is probably much higher. They confiscated a number of things from his possession, including a luxury Mercedes-Benz SUV, worth roughly $65,000.

The report also states that this person probably wasn’t working alone and had help from other individuals, but their identities are also unknown at the time. The police hope to uncover their names as the investigation progresses. For now, the hacker is looking at up to eight years in prison, for the violation of three separate laws - one for money laundering, one for unauthorized operation of information systems, and one for the creation of malware.

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Sead is a seasoned freelance journalist based in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. He writes about IT (cloud, IoT, 5G, VPN) and cybersecurity (ransomware, data breaches, laws and regulations). In his career, spanning more than a decade, he’s written for numerous media outlets, including Al Jazeera Balkans. He’s also held several modules on content writing for Represent Communications.

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