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Court Busts Hacker Over $100,000-Stealing Trojan Horse

by Caleb Johnson on June 10, 2009 at 02:01 PM

A man used hacking software to steal more than $100,000 from banking and brokerage accounts over a six-month period in 2007, according to Macworld. Alexey Mineev recently plead guilty to one count of money laundering in U.S. District Court.

Mineev stole account numbers and passwords from users with a Trojan horse, which can pose as anything from a security patch to a screensaver. Then, he wired the stolen money to accounts in Russia, sometimes moving as much as $10,000 at a time. Security experts told Macworld that it's difficult to recover money once it leaves the U.S. Two other men were charged along with Mineev in the hacking scheme but U.S. authorities cannot touch one of them, because he, like the money, is in Russia.


With more and more folks using online banking services, there is no airtight, easy way to avoid these schemes. When it comes to downloads, a little common sense goes a long way. We recommend avoiding any link or download that seems suspicious or unfamiliar. However, as we previously reported, a Trojan horse can infect your computer even if you do not click a link or download a file.

Online banking has made our lives much easier, but we do worry at times about the potential of such critical information being so easily stolen. It is nice to see these criminals prosecuted and punished. Mineev must pay back the $112,000 he stole, and he could spend two years in prison and pay fines nearing a total of $40,000. Justice well served, if you ask us. [From: Macworld]

Tags: banks, hack, identity theft, IdentityTheft, money laundering, MoneyLaundering, online banking, OnlineBanking, russia, trojan horse, TrojanHorse

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