Turkish Hacker Pleads Guilty to $55 Million Heist
Posted by: Timothy Weaver on 03/09/2016 12:14 PM
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Turkish citizen Ercan Findikoglu, 34, has pleaded guilty to attacks on the US banking sector that caused $55m in damages.
Findikoglu admitted his role in an international syndicate including charges of computer intrusion conspiracy, bank fraud, and effecting transactions using unauthorised devices. As part of a ring which, starting in 2010, Findikoglu used the aliases "Segate", "Oreon" and "Predator" to target JPMorgan Chase, MasterCard, and the American Red Cross that siphoned tens of millions of dollars from ATMs in two dozen countries.
Findikoglu was arrested December 2013 in Frankfurt, Germany. He fought extradition pleading innocence but could have faced 247½ years in prison if found guilty.
The group's biggest heist happened in February 2013 where the group stole US$40 million (£28.4 million, A$54.8 million) through an eye-watering 36,000 ATM transactions across 24 countries. The withdrawals happened in a matter of hours.
United States Attorney Lynch said: "[The gang] 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 organisation used laptops and the internet," he added. "Moving as swiftly as data over the internet, the organisation 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."
Source: The Register
Findikoglu admitted his role in an international syndicate including charges of computer intrusion conspiracy, bank fraud, and effecting transactions using unauthorised devices. As part of a ring which, starting in 2010, Findikoglu used the aliases "Segate", "Oreon" and "Predator" to target JPMorgan Chase, MasterCard, and the American Red Cross that siphoned tens of millions of dollars from ATMs in two dozen countries.Findikoglu was arrested December 2013 in Frankfurt, Germany. He fought extradition pleading innocence but could have faced 247½ years in prison if found guilty.
The group's biggest heist happened in February 2013 where the group stole US$40 million (£28.4 million, A$54.8 million) through an eye-watering 36,000 ATM transactions across 24 countries. The withdrawals happened in a matter of hours.
United States Attorney Lynch said: "[The gang] 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 organisation used laptops and the internet," he added. "Moving as swiftly as data over the internet, the organisation 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."
Source: The Register
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