(JustPatriots.com)- Police officers in Ukraine, France, and the United States worked together to detain and arrest a 25-year-old hacker in Kyiv last month after he allegedly played a part in a $150 million hacking scheme.
The suspect, who was arrested on September 28, allegedly demanded ransom money in exchange for returning stolen data to users from all over the world. The hacker allegedly used phishing emails, which pretend to be official emails from banks and other online services and trick people into installing emails, to infect the computers of employees of major companies.
Police officers said that the cyber hacker, who wasn’t identified, is responsible for hacking more than 100 businesses worldwide, including major tourism and energy companies across the United States and Europe.
The European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation, known as Europol, said that the hacker had an accomplice who worked with him to withdraw the money taken from his victims.
Officers reportedly seized $375,000 in cash from the suspect’s apartment in Kyiv, and a number of luxury vehicles, computers, and cell phones were also seized.
The suspect may not be facing up to 12 years in prison for demanding cryptocurrency from victims. He is believed to own as much as $1.3 million in crypto coins, which are much harder to track than traditional currencies.
Ransomware attacks are becoming increasingly common, with the United States falling victim to a number of these schemes during the Biden administration. From energy companies to meat suppliers, companies all over the world are falling victim to savvy cyber hackers. Some $20 billion in damages has been caused by cyberhacking and ransom this year alone.
