Feds: 2 Belarus men got $1.35M stolen in phishing scam
PITTSBURGH – Federal authorities in Pittsburgh say two men have been charged by authorities in Belarus with receiving $1.35 million stolen in a phishing scheme from the bank account of Pennsylvania oil and gas drilling company.
U.S. Attorney David Hickton says 34-year-old Aleskey Yaroshevich and 41-year-old Egor Pavlenko are in police custody in their home town of Minsk.
Hickton’s office last year charged Andrey Ghinkul, who’s from Moldova, another eastern European country, with running a scheme to infect computers worldwide with Bugat malware.
The computer bug infected computers owned by Penneco Oil Co. Inc. in Delmont and enabled the conspirators to hack the company’s bank accounts for $3.5 million.
Hickton says the Minsk men received a $1.35 million transfer made in September 2012.
It’s not clear whether the Belarusian men have attorneys.
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