The US Justice Department announced that alleged Russian hacker Roman Seleznev, sentenced to 27 years in US prison, has pled guilty to cashing out more than $2 million with five hacked debit card numbers in 2008.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Alleged Russian hacker Roman Seleznev, sentenced to 27 years in US prison, has pled guilty to cashing out more than $2 million with five hacked debit card numbers in 2008, the US Justice Department announced in a release on Friday.

"Roman Seleznev has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud for his role in the 2008 hack of RBS Worldpay," the release said. "Seleznev was responsible for cashing out $2,178,349 associated with five hacked debit card numbers."

In 2008, a team of hackers stole more than $9 million from over 2,100 ATMs in at least 280 cities globally, including in the United States, Russia, Ukraine, Estonia, Italy, Hong Kong, Japan and Canada, according to the release.

The US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia has charged 14 individuals involved in the hack and cashout, including Russian nationals Viktor Pleschuk, Evgeniy Anikin, and Roman Seleznev.

Seleznev was convicted in August 2016 of 38 counts of hacking crimes. He was accused of defrauding small business and financial institutions in the United States of more than $169 million. In April, Seleznev was sentenced to 27 years in prison on those charges.

Seleznev was arrested by CIA agents in the Maldives and brought to the United States. The Russian Foreign Ministry and his father, a Russian lawmaker, said this was illegal and equalled a kidnapping.</s>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The son of a Russian lawmaker accused of stealing credit card data and other personal information has pleaded guilty in two criminal cases stemming from a probe into a $50 million online identity theft scheme, the U.S. Justice Department said on Friday.

Roman Seleznev, 33, the son of Russian parliament member Valery Seleznev, pleaded guilty to one count of participating in a racketeering scheme, and another count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud. The charges were filed in federal courts in Nevada and Georgia, and the plea deal for both cases was finalized on Thursday.

In April, Seleznev was sentenced to 27 years in prison by a federal court in Washington for his role in a cyber assault involving hacking into point of sale computers to steal credit card numbers.

He was arrested in the Maldives and brought to the United States to face charges.

The Russian government has previously criticized the arrest, calling it an unlawful kidnapping.

Seleznev’s attorney, Igor Litvak, said his client accepts responsibility for his role in the two cyber cases settled on Thursday, but that he intends to appeal his conviction stemming from the third separate Washington case.

“We still feel the way he was brought to the U.S. was illegal,” Litvak told Reuters. “He was basically kidnapped.”

The Nevada and Georgia cases involved a credit card fraud ring known as “Carder.su,” an Internet-based network used by criminals who trafficked stolen credit card data.

In pleading guilty, Seleznev admitted he got involved with the ring in January 2009 and sold compromised credit card data to others on the network.

He also admitted to serving as a “casher” by working with other hackers to defraud an Atlanta company that helped process credit and debit card transactions. That scheme ultimately let the hackers steal 45.5 million debit card numbers and withdraw $9.4 million from ATMs in 280 cities.</s>WASHINGTON: The son of a Russian lawmaker accused of stealing credit card data and other personal information has pleaded guilty in two separate criminal cases stemming from a probe into a US$50 million identity theft scheme, the U.S. Justice Department announced on Friday.

Roman Seleznev, 33, the son of Russian parliament member Valery Seleznev, pleaded guilty to one count of participating in a racketeering scheme, and another count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud. The charges were filed in federal courts in Nevada and Georgia.

The plea deals in the two cases come just a few months after he was sentenced in April to 27 years in prison by a federal court in Washington for his role in the cyber assault. He was arrested in the Maldives and brought to the United States to face charges.</s>The son of a Russian MP has pleaded guilty in the US to being part of a $50m cybercrime racket.

Roman Seleznev, 33, admitted to being part of an online criminal marketplace called Carder.su, which specialised in selling stolen credit card details and identity theft.

Seleznev has already been sentenced to 27 years in prison by a federal court in Washington for breaking into US businesses to steal credit card information, which he subsequently sold on to others to commit frauds.

He was also ordered to pay $170m in damages.

He was selling such a large volume of card details he created an automated website allowing customers to log in and search for the particular type of card information they wanted to buy.

Seleznev is the son of Russian parliamentarian Valery Seleznev, a member of the far-right Liberal Democratic Party.

Speaking in Moscow, the father accused Washington of "abducting" his son when he was arrested by US Secret Service agents in the Maldives in 2014.

Seleznev's lawyer Igor Litvak said while admitting the latest charges, his client plans to appeal his Washington conviction.

Mr Litvak said: "We still feel the way he was brought to the U.S. was illegal. He was basically kidnapped."

Carder.su was targeted by law enforcement agencies in Operation Open Market, which has charged 55 individuals with involvement in the cybercrime ring.

Of those charged, 33 have been convicted while the others are either fugitives or pending trial.</s>Identity theft and hacking are two of the most popular crimes in the United States. The digital age is making those crimes easier for criminals.

Equifax credit is the latest victim of hacking and says, approximately half of Americans may be at risk for identity theft after this latest security breach. Equifax holds all of your credit, bank, and personal information.

We spoke with Dan Buchta from the Better Business Bureau about how you can protect yourself.

Buchta said you can do a couple things to protect yourself from threats of identity theft. He said you can put a freeze on your credit account which allows you to access your credit cards, utilities, and banking but no new accounts can be started. You can also place a fraud alert through Equifax, Transunion, or Experian. A fraud alert would allow the credit companies to alert you before a new account gets opened.

Equifax has offered a free year of TrustID Premier, an identity security program, to those affected by their security breach. To see if you qualify you can go to equifaxsecurity2017.com and click on potential impact, then check potential impact and follow the prompts. If you've been affected you can then start the process to enroll in TrustID Premier.

Buchta offered this last bit of advice, "You can't panic about it but you do have to stay vigilant, you do have to pay attention, and take the steps you can to protect your identity. One thing is that they've made it easier these days to start the process of cleaning it up if you do find yourself a victim. There is help out there for you. Vigilance is the number one way that you can protect yourself. Staying on top of it, detecting it early, and immediately starting the process towards a solution will allow you to clean it up very quickly."</s>WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Alleged Russian hacker Roman Seleznev, sentenced to 27 years in US prison, has pled guilty to cashing out more than $2 million with five hacked debit card numbers in 2008, the US Justice Department announced in a release on Friday.

"Roman Seleznev has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud for his role in the 2008 hack of RBS Worldpay," the release said. "Seleznev was responsible for cashing out $2,178,349 associated with five hacked debit card numbers."

Seleznev was arrested by CIA agents in the Maldives and brought to the United States. The Russian Foreign Ministry and his father, a Russian lawmaker, said this was illegal and equaled a kidnapping.</s>The son of a prominent Russian MP has pleaded guilty on Thursday (8 September) to charges related to his role in a $50m (£37.8m) identity theft and credit card fraud ring called "Carder.su". Roman Valeryevich Seleznev, 33, also known as Track2, pleaded guilty in two separate criminal cases in Georgia and Nevada to one count of participation in a racketeering scheme and another count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, the US Justice Department said on Friday (8 September).

Seleznev is the son of Russian parliament member Valery Seleznev — a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. In April, he was sentenced by a federal court in Washington to 27 years in US prison for a massive computer hacking and credit card fraud scheme that caused nearly $170m in damages.

As part of his Nevada plea, Seleznev admitted to becoming a member of the Carder.su organisation in January 2009 — an online, international criminal enterprise whose members "trafficked in compromised credit card account data and counterfeit identifications and committed identity theft, bank fraud and computer crimes," the Justice Department said.

He admitted to selling compromised credit card data and other personal identifying information to other members in the crime ring and even created an automated website advertised on Carder.su's website to sell the "large volume of product".

Each victim's account number was sold for approximately $20, ultimately costing victims over $50m in losses.

He also admitted to serving as a "casher" by working with other hackers to defraud an Atlanta-based company that helped process credit and debit card transactions for financial institutions.

Hackers allegedly infiltrated the company's computer systems and stole 45.5 million debit card numbers, a portion of which was used to fraudulently withdraw over $9.4m from over 2,000 ATMs in 280 cities across the globe in less than 12 hours.

So far, 55 individuals have been charged in relation to the Carder.su organisation, with 33 individuals convicted to date. The rest are currently fugitives or pending trial.

Seleznev was arrested while on vacation in the Maldives in 2014 and later brought to the US to face charges. The Russian government and his father have long asserted that his arrest was illegal and more akin to a kidnapping.

Seleznev's attorney, Igor Litvak, said his client has accepted responsibility for his role in the two cases settled on Thursday. However, he plans to appeal his conviction in the separate Washington case. His 27-year-sentencing in that case is the longest one handed down for charges related to hacking in the US.

"We still feel the way he was brought to the US was illegal," Litvak said, Reuters reports. "He was basically kidnapped."

Seleznev will be sentenced on 11 December.
The U.S. Justice Department announces Roman Seleznev, the son of Russian parliament member Valery Seleznev, pleaded guilty in a $50 million identity theft probe. This past April, Roman Seleznev was sentenced to 27 years in prison on 38 counts of hacking crimes.