November 6, 2009
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News: FBI Cracks Global Hacking Ring
After a yearlong global debit and credit card fraud investigation, Federal agents apprehended eight criminals in what the FBI is calling “the most sophisticated and organized computer fraud attack ever conducted.” Eight individuals were arrested in connection with a one day hacking incident into the computer system of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) WorldPay debit and credit card network. The RBS WorldPay is an electronic payment processing arm of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC, based out of Atlanta, Georgia. The company processes millions of debit and credit card payments a day. Three of the criminals indicted by the grand jury Viktor Pleshchuk, of St. Petersburg, Russia; Sergei Tsurikov of Tallinn, Estonia, and Oleg Covelin of Chi'in'u, Moldova are the ringleaders who hacked into the RBS WorldPay system in November 2008.
According to court documents, the three ringleaders used sophisticated hacking techniques to break into the debit and credit card payment processor's computer system to break encryption code. The stole the payroll debit card information that WorldPay's clients use to pay weekly payroll to employees. Employees are able to use the debit card at any ATM to draw out their wages. After compromising WorldPay's debit and credit card information, the three raised the credit limits on 44 payroll accounts and then forwarded the stolen information to accomplices in over 280 cities across the globe. Afterwards, the hackers tried to destroy evidence located on WorldPay's computer system that would recognize the hacking incident.
More incredible is the fact that within a 12 hour time span, the criminals were able to illegally obtain over $9 million from over 2100 ATM's in a number of countries including the United States, Russia, Ukraine, Estonia, Italy, Hong Kong, Japan and Canada. The accomplices were paid a portion of the draw ranging from 30 to 50 percent and then transmitted the bulk of those funds back to Tsurikov and Pleshchuk via WebMoney accounts and Western Union. The debit and credit card payment processor notified the authorities immediately upon learning about the hacking incident. The three ringleaders along with five others have been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit computer fraud, computer fraud, and aggravated identity theft.