14 DAY TRIAL // United States prosecutors have charged 8 individuals suspected of being involved in a massive cybercrime ring that caused losses of $45 million (€34 million) to financial institutions from all over the world in a matter of hours.
The 8 suspects are believed to be the New York cell of an international criminal organization. Authorities allege that the defendants and their co-conspirators managed to withdraw around $2.8 million (€2.1 million) from ATMs in the New York City area in less than 24 hours.
The individuals – aged between 22 and 35 – have been charged, depending on their roles, with money laundering, money laundering conspiracy, and conspiracy to commit access device fraud.
Seven of them were arrested, while the eighth defendant, Alberto Yusi Lajud-Peña, aka “Prime” and “Albertico,” was reportedly murdered in the Dominican Republic in late April. Alberto Yusi Lajud-Peña was believed to be the leader of the New York-based cell.
According to court documents, the cybercrime ring used sophisticated hacking techniques to breach into the systems of global financial organizations from which they stole prepaid debit card data. By hacking into the networks of these companies, the crooks also managed to eliminate the withdrawal limits.
They utilized the stolen payment card data to make withdrawals from ATMs located all over the world.
Authorities say the crooks used a technique that’s known in the criminal underground as “Unlimited Operation.” They’re called “Unlimited Operations” because they allow cybercriminals to access “unlimited” proceeds.
Presumably, the defendants and their accomplices conducted two such operations between October 2012 and April 2013. 26 countries are involved in this case.
“As charged in the indictment, the defendants and their co-conspirators participated in a massive 21st century bank heist that reached across the Internet and stretched around the globe. In the place of guns and masks, this cybercrime organization used laptops and the Internet,” stated Loretta E. Lynch, United States attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
“Moving as swiftly as data over the Internet, the organization worked its way from the computer systems of international corporations to the streets of New York City, with the defendants fanning out across Manhattan to steal millions of dollars from hundreds of ATMs in a matter of hours.”
If convicted, the individuals could be sentenced to a maximum of 10 years in prison for each of the money laundering counts and 7.5 years for the conspiracy to commit access device fraud charges.