Russian hacker faces up to 80 years in prison

[Tomcat]

At the end of October this year, Israeli Justice Minister Amir Ohana signed an order on the extradition to the United States of 29-year-old Russian citizen Alexei Burkov. He was detained at Ben Gurion Airport back in 2015 at the request of the American authorities. Over the years, the Russian authorities have tried to exchange Alexei Burkov for an Israeli citizen Naama Issachar, who was sentenced in Russia to seven and a half years in prison on charges of drug smuggling, but when nothing worked and the hacker was nevertheless handed over to the United States, the Russian embassy in Washington sent a note to the State Department protest.

Burkov is now on trial in Virginia, where he was charged, and the US Department of Justice issued an official press release detailing the case.

According to American law enforcement officers, Burkov for several years ran the Cardplanet website, which sold bank card data at a price of $ 2.50 to $ 60 per piece (the cost depended on the type of card, its country of origin, the name and address of the cardholder, and other identification information). Investigators claim that Burkov's resource even offered a money-back guarantee if the stolen card data no longer worked.

In total, more than 150,000 payment cards were put up for sale on Cardplanet, tens of thousands of which belonged to American users. Selling cards through Cardplanet resulted in fraudulent purchases, with more than $ 20 million in damage to American users alone.

Also, according to the Ministry of Justice, Burkov owned another website, closed to the general public, where criminals could advertise the sale of stolen personal data, malware and various illegal services. It was possible to get into this "closed club" only by invitation: three active members of the site had to vouch for the newcomer, in addition, the entrance fee was $ 5,000, which was a kind of insurance.

Burukov was charged under a variety of articles, including email fraud, data access device fraud, conspiracy, identity theft, and money laundering. As a result, if he is found guilty on all counts, he faces up to 80 years in prison. Also, the American authorities are seeking the confiscation of $ 21 million in foreign currency and any other income received by the suspects as a result of the alleged crimes.