The alleged leader of the 2008 cyber-attack on
the Royal Bank of Scotland’s payment processing arm, WorldPay, has
been extradited from Estonia to the US.
According to Associated Press, Sergei
Tsurikov, has pleaded not guilty to the federal charges of
conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to
commit computer fraud, and aggravated identity theft.
If found guilty, Tsurikov could face up to 35
years in prison and a maximum fine of $3.5 million.
Tsurikov and his seven accomplices were
arrested in Russia this year and are accused of hacking into the
data of 44 employee payroll cards and subsequently destroying the
data in an attempt to cover up the fraud.
Over $9.4 million was stolen from more than
2,100 ATM terminals across 280 cities in a 12 hour window on the 8
November 2008.
The cloned debit cards were distributed to 44
‘cashers’ who were instructed to withdraw money within an allotted
time period. Authorities say that the ‘cashers’ were able to keep
between 30% and 50% of the money, with Tsurikov and others
receiving the rest through WebMoney accounts and Western Union.
“In November 2008, in just one day, an
American credit card processor was hacked in perhaps the most
sophisticated and organised computer fraud attack
ever conducted,” said US attorney, Sally Quillian Yates in a
statement.
