2023-05-16 23:24:00
Tuesday, May 16, 2023
$10 million bounty US hunts down Russian hackers
Mikhail Pavlovich Matveev is active online under his nickname Wazavaka (icon image).
(Photo: IMAGO/Panthermedia)
He is said to have stolen hundreds of millions of dollars with blackmail software – we are talking about the Russian hacker Mikhail Pavlovich Matweev. The US is now putting an enormous bounty on his head. The cybercriminal’s trademark is a missing finger.
The US has put a $10 million bounty on a Russian hacker believed to be behind thousands of cyberattacks around the world. Mikhail Pavlovich Matveev was involved in attacks using the LockBit, Babuk and Hive ransomware, the US Department of Justice said in Washington. The targets of the attacks were, among other things, police authorities in the USA, but also schools and hospitals.
The hackers are said to have demanded a total of up to $400 million in ransom from their victims and stolen up to $200 million in ransom, the ministry said. If Matweev is caught, extradited to the United States and brought to justice, he faces more than 20 years in prison.
Videos of Matveev show the Russian flaunting his hand, which is clearly missing a whole finger. Matveev, who uses the nickname Wazawaka, claims he cut off his own finger after losing a bet. Matveev always stresses that his activities will be tolerated by the local authorities as long as he remains loyal to Russia.
Just two weeks ago, the US also promised a $10 million reward for information leading to the capture of alleged Russian cybercriminal Denis Gennadyovich Kulkov. The man is said to be one of the heads of the Try2Check platform, which is used in credit card fraud.
Those: ntv.de
mba/AFP
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