Two Russians Charged in $17M Cryptocurrency Phishing Spree
Summary: The U.S. Justice Department unsealed indictments against Russian nationals Danil Potekhin and Dmitirii Karasavidi, alleging they spoofed login pages for Binance, Gemini and Poloniex and stole $16.8 million in cryptocurrencies and fiat money in phishing attacks during 2017 and 2018. Prosecutors say the men took more than $10 million from 142 Binance victims, $5.24 million from 158 Poloniex users and $1.17 million from 42 Gemini customers, then laundered the funds through intermediary accounts and used stolen funds to manipulate cryptocurrency prices.
What you should know: The indictment describes one order for roughly 8,000 GAS that moved the token's market price from about $18 to $2,400, showing that stolen exchange credentials can be used to distort a market, not just drain a balance. The Treasury Department's sanctions and a Secret Service forfeiture of funds traced to Karasavidi's account are the only recovery path named, and the source notes it could take years to return any of it to victims.
Read the original at Krebs on Security ↗
- Topics
- Data Breaches
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