Russian hacker extradited to the United States

Late Friday the US Attorney’s Office in Manhattan announced that a 35-year-old Russian man allegedly involved in widespread IT-related criminal activity in the United States will soon face justice in an American court following an extradition agreement with the eastern European country of Georgia.

The activities of Andrei Tyurin between 2012 and 2015 spanned several economic sectors in the USA, including financial institutions, brokerage firms, financial news publishers and illegal online gambling, according to the authorities, who claim that in one case alone the personal data of over 80 million people was stolen from a financial institution in Manhattan.

Tyurin appeared briefly in a federal court Friday on several charges and was remanded in federal custody until September 25; he did not enter a plea.

Officials claim that Tyurin used his hacking skills to help further an illegal gambling business through internet casino and international payment processors, which allowed other alleged thieves to process payments by credit or debit card, investigators said.

This was done for illegal pharmaceutical distributors, purveyors of malicious or counterfeit “anti-virus” software, their own internet casinos and an illegal bitcoin exchange.

Investigators have calculated that Tyurin and his co-conspirators made more than $18 million in profits. His name has been linked with the notorious Affactive and Revenue Jet online casino and affiliate businesses which have been accused of prejudicing online punters and affiliates through no-pay tactics in the past, led by Israeli nationals Gery Shalon and Ziv Orenstein.

Shalon subsequently paid hundreds of millions to settle his issues with the US government (see previous reports).

On Friday, Manhattan US Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said in a statement. “Today’s extradition marks a significant milestone for law enforcement in the fight against cyber intrusions targeting our critical financial institutions.

“As Americans increasingly turn to online banking, theft of online personal information can cause devastating effects on their financial well-being, sometimes taking years to recover.”

FBI Assistant Director William F. Sweeney Jr. added: “Today’s charges and extradition should serve as a lesson to all those who would conspire to engage in similar activity that the FBI and our partners will continue to bring these hackers to justice, regardless of where they may hide.”

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