Up to $100,000 offered for information on hackers wanted for cybercrimes including fraud, identify theft and malware

This article is more than 6 years old

This article is more than 6 years old

The FBI has added five new hackers to its cyber most wanted list bringing those urgently sought for cybercrimes to 10 in total.

The men are wanted in connection with hacking and fraud crimes both within the US as well as internationally, involving hundreds of thousands of victims and tens of millions of dollars in losses.

“The cyber fugitives we seek have caused significant losses to individuals and to our economy,” said Richard McFeely, the FBI’s executive assistant director of criminal, cyber, response and services.

“Cyber crime continues to pose a significant threat to our national security,” he added.

Infamous five

The five new members of the FBI’s 10-strong cyber most wanted list include two Pakistani nationals, Farnhan Arshad and Noor Aziz Uddin, who are sought for their alleged involvement in a $50m international telecommunications hacking scheme that ran between 2008 and 2012.

Carlos Perez-Melara, of El Salvador, is wanted in connection with a variety of cybercrimes, the most high-profile being a website that offered to “catch a cheating lover”, but instead installed malware that allowed scammers to steal personal information leading to identity theft.

Syrian national Andrey Nabilevich Taame allegedly played a role in “Operation Ghost Click” a malware scheme that ran between 2007 and 2011 and infected more than four million computers in over 100 countries.

Alexsey Belan, a Russian national, is wanted for alleged hacking of three US-based companies between 2012 and 2013.

“Because cybercrime knows no boundaries, cybercriminals think they can hide overseas. But we are using our international partnerships and the publicity generated by our Cyber’s Most Wanted to ferret them out,” McFeedly said.

The cyber era is just like the gangster era before it

Rewards of up to $100,000 for information leading to the arrest of those recently added to the FBI’s cyber most wanted list have also been made available.

“Throughout its history, the FBI has depended on the public’s help and support to bring criminals to justice. That was true in the gangster era, and it’s just as true in the cyber era. We need the public’s help to catch these individuals who have made it their mission to spy on and steal from our nation and our citizens,” said McFeely.

• Most technology breaches are far from complex, and come from simple failures, according to the head of security strategy at NTT Com Security in October