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11/22/2024 06:09:59 am

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FBI Offers $3 million Reward for Russian Hacker, Evgeniy Bogachev

Be richer by $3 million

(Photo : FBI) Evgeniy Bogachev, the $3 million cybercriminal

There's a huge $3 million dollar reward for a Russian hacker accused of leading a gang that stole over $100 million from American bank accounts since 2014.

The bounty will be paid to anyone providing information leading to the arrest of Evgeniy Mikhailovich Bogachev, 31, a Russian national already on the FBI's "Cyber's Most Wanted" list.

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The $3 million bounty is the highest ever for a cybercriminal.

The FBI and the U.S. State Department announced the record reward Feb. 24. The FBI believes Bogachev is hiding somewhere in Russia.

Persons with tips on Bogachev's location can call the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI or through the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate.

Bogachev is accused of deploying malicious software known as GameOver Zeus that stole bank account numbers and passwords. His gang allegedly placed malware on victims' computers that allowed them to intercept account numbers and other information that victims typed into computers.

The infected computers also became part of a "botnet," or a global network of infected computers, which the Bogachev gang used to redirect wire transfers to overseas accounts the gang controlled.

GameOver Zeus let Bogachev's gang control the most sophisticated botnet the FBI and its allies have ever attempted to disrupt.

In early 2014, The U.S. Department of Justice indicted Bogachev for conspiracy, computer hacking, wire fraud, bank fraud and money laundering in connection with his leadership of a gang of cyber criminals that operated in Russia and Ukraine. He was also indicted in Nebraska in 2012.

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