Cyber Crime Is Here: Meet The World Most Wanted Cyber Criminals.

Cyber Crime is here and it is happening. If you really want to know the magnitude of the problem that every internet user is faced with, it is wise to take a look at Cyber’s Most Wanted criminals. In this article we take a look at Cyber’s most wanted” criminals according to the Federal Bureau Investigation (FBI).

In a bid to curb the ever increasing threat of cybercrime the FBI hosts a resource page on FBI.gov concentrated on cyber-crime. With full awareness to the threats the site contains a link to report an occurrence, and also includes the “Cyber’s Most Wanted” list. When I was reading through the site about the top wanted criminals, I realised how serious the cyber threat issue is growing by the day. The scope of the criminal’s crimes varies astonishingly.

Evgeniy Mikhailovich Bogachev

Evgeniy Mikhailovich Bogachev

Evgeniy Mikhailovich Bogachev, using the online monikers “lucky12345” and “slavik”, is wanted for his alleged involvement in a wide-ranging racketeering enterprise and scheme that installed, without authorization, malicious software known as “Zeus” on victims’ computers. The software was used to capture bank account numbers, passwords, personal identification numbers, and other information necessary to log into online banking accounts. While Bogachev knowingly acted in a role as an administrator, others involved in the scheme conspired to distribute spam and phishing emails, which contained links to compromised web sites. Victims who visited these web sites were infected with the malware, which Bogachev and others utilized to steal money from the victims’ bank accounts. This online account takeover fraud has been investigated by the FBI since the summer of 2009.

Starting in September of 2011, the FBI began investigating a modified version of the Zeus Trojan, known as GameOver Zeus (GOZ). It is believed GOZ is responsible for more than one million computer infections, resulting in financial losses of more than $100 million.

On August 22, 2012, Bogachev was indicted under the nickname “lucky12345” by a federal grand jury in the District of Nebraska on charges of Conspiracy to Participate in Racketeering Activity; Bank Fraud; Conspiracy to Violate the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act; Conspiracy to Violate the Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act; and Aggravated Identity Theft. On May 19, 2014, Bogachev was indicted in his true name by a federal grand jury in the Western District of Pennsylvania on charges of Conspiracy; Computer Fraud; Wire Fraud; Bank Fraud; and Money Laundering. On May 30, 2014, a criminal complaint was issued in the District of Nebraska that ties the previously indicted nickname of "lucky12345" to Bogachev and charges him with Conspiracy to Commit Bank Fraud.

Bogachev was last known to reside in Anapa, Russia. He is known to enjoy boating and may travel to locations along the Black Sea in his boat. He also owns property in Krasnodar, Russia.

WANG DONG

WANG DONG

On May 1, 2014, a grand jury in the Western District of Pennsylvania indicted five members of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) for 31 criminal counts, including: conspiring to commit computer fraud; accessing a computer without authorization for the purpose of commercial advantage and private financial gain; damaging computers through the transmission of code and commands; aggravated identity theft; economic espionage; and theft of trade secrets.

The subjects, including Wang Dong, were officers of the PRC’s Third Department of the General Staff Department of the People’s Liberation Army (3PLA), Second Bureau, Third Office, Military Unit Cover Designator (MUCD) 61398, at some point during the investigation. The activities executed by each of these individuals allegedly involved in the conspiracy varied according to his specialties. Each provided his individual expertise to an alleged conspiracy to penetrate the computer networks of six American companies while those companies were engaged in negotiations or joint ventures or were pursuing legal action with, or against, state-owned enterprises in China. They then used their illegal access to allegedly steal proprietary information including, for instance, e-mail exchanges among company employees and trade secrets related to technical specifications for nuclear plant designs. Wang controlled victim computers.

Alexsey Belan

Alexsey Belan

Between January 2012 and April 2013, Belan allegedly intruded the computer networks of three major U.S.-based e-commerce companies in Nevada and California. He is alleged to have stolen their user databases which he then exported and made readily accessible on his server. Belan allegedly stole the user data and the encrypted passwords of millions of accounts and then negotiated the sales of the databases.

Peteris Sahurovs

Peteris Sahurovs

Wanted for his alleged involvement in an international cyber crime scheme that took place from February 2010 to September 2010. The scheme used a computer virus that involved the online sale of fraudulent computer security programs that defrauded Internet users of more than $2 million.

Artem Semenov

Artem Semenov

Wanted for his alleged participation in an Eastern European cyber crime ring, operating out of New York, which is known for recruiting money mules to open bank accounts, cashing out money received through unauthorized money transfers, and then transferring the money overseas. An arrest warrant was issued for Semenov in the Southern District of New York on Sept. 29, 2010, after he was charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud; conspiracy to possess false identification documents; and false use of passport.

Shaileshkumar P. Jain

Shaileshkumar P. Jain

Along with his co-conspirator, Bjorn Daniel Sundin, is wanted for his alleged involvement in an international cyber crime scheme that caused internet users in more than 60 countries to purchase more than one million bogus software products, resulting in consumer loss of more than $100 million. It is alleged that from December 2006 to October 2008, through fake advertisements placed on legitimate companies’ websites, Jain and his accomplices deceived Internet users into believing that their computers were infected with “malware” or had other critical errors in order to encourage them to purchase “scareware” software products that had limited or no ability to remedy the purported defects.

Carlos Enrique Perez-Melara

Carlos Enrique Perez-Melara

Perez-Melara is wanted for his alleged involvement in manufacturing spyware which was used to intercept the private communications of hundreds, if not thousands, of victims. As part of the scheme, Perez-Melara ran a website offering customers a way to “catch a cheating lover” by sending spyware masqueraded as an electronic greeting card. Victims who opened the greeting card would unwittingly install a program onto their computers. The program collected keystrokes and other incoming and outgoing electronic communications on the victims’ computers. The program would periodically send email messages back to the purchasers of the service containing the acquired communications, including the victims’ passwords, lists of visited websites, intercepted email messages and keystroke logs.

These characters are quite interesting indeed. After reading and understanding the capacity that these characters have, then we all know the magnitude of the problem we have. It becomes very critical for us to understand that any one of us can be a victim anytime anywhere.

Be vigilant every time you log onto your Internet for you never know what is going to happen to you and when it will happen.

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