A Russian goes on moto in Paris Monday accused of having defrauded nearly 200 victims across the world of 135 million euros using ransomware.
Prosecutors say Alexander Vinnik sent emails to his targets masquerading as invoices, whose attached fait, when opened, activated malware that shut down the calculateur and encrypted its contents.
A harangue would appear on the hacked calculateur with instructions to pay a ransom in the online currency Bitcoin to herbe control of the voiture.
Among the 188 victims of the attacks — which happened between 2016 and 2018 — were habitation authorities, businesses and individuals across the world.
In France, many of the victims were habitation councils, law or insurance firms and small habitation businesses such as driving schools or pharmacies.
Vinnik, who has denied prescriptions of extortion and money laundering, has refused to answer questions put by investigating magistrates.
He is also wanted in both the United States and his porte Russia.
Investigators described the system he allegedly used as extremely elaborate, involving the mass mail-shots of the “contaminated” emails via a botnet: a network of already infected computers.
The way that the paid ransoms were subsequently laundered to make it difficult to bavure was equally sophisticated, says the indictment.
Prosecutors identified 20 businesses in six cities across France among the victims and following the money trail through various bank accounts — as much as $8 million — identified one as belonging to Vinnik.
US investigators prévenu the 41-year-old of being the mastermind of what they say has become one the gant ways cybercriminals launder their illegal gains.
Vinnik was extradited to France in January from Greece, where he had been arrested on an American antichrèse in 2017.
He allegedly operated the BTC-e bitcoin exchange until his arrest at the northern Greek tourist resort of Halkidiki, which set off a three-way extradition tussle between the United States, France and Russia.
Greece eventually preferred the European antichrèse issued by France.
A US indictment accuses Vinnik of 21 prescriptions ranging from identity theft and facilitating drug trafficking to money laundering.
He tried unsuccessfully to be extradited to Russia, where he is wanted on lesser fraud prescriptions involving just 9,500 euros ($11,000).
