Ukrainian national held for global computer hacking

Accused of selling four crore credit . debit cards

PTI | May 12, 2010



A Ukrainian national, wanted by the US in connection with a case of global computer hacking and credit card fraud ring, was detained in the capital soon after his arrival at the IGI airport, officials said today.

Sergey V Storchak, holding Ukrainian passport AX-332255, was taken into custody by CISF from the aircraft on May eight when he arrived here on a Jetlite flight S2-120 from Goa.

The FBI had issued a look out circular on Storchak who, along with ten others, was accused of stealing and selling more than four crore credit and debit card numbers. Their operations spanned the US, eastern Europe and Asia.

A criminal case was filed in the US against Storchak and others for conspiracy to traffic in unauthorised access devices.

The US agency had informed the CBI about Storchak's presence in the country and that he was likely to reach the capital from Goa, officials said.

"The CBI along with Delhi Police and FBI officials waited at the terminal, while a team of CISF officials went inside the aircraft, escorted Storchak out and handed him over to CBI," a senior CISF official said.

Storchak had boarded the Jetlite flight from Goa at 6.45 pm on May eight and was scheduled to reach Delhi at 10.55 pm.

He was identified with the help of a photo provided by the FBI, which was handed over to the CISF personnel.

Eleven people from US and China and three from former Soviet Republics were allegedly involved in what was dubbed as the largest hacking and identity theft by the US justice department.

They allegedly stole more than four crore credit and debit card numbers and sold them to criminals in the US and Europe.

The department had charged them with conspiracy, computer intrusion, internet fraud and identity theft.

According to US documents, the gang drove close to US retail stores in search of wireless internet connections on which they installed "sniffer" software that would record card numbers.

After this, they allegedly sold the numbers over the internet to individuals who encoded them on blank credit cards and withdrew tens of thousands of dollars at a time from cash machines.

One of the affected companies, British retail chain TK Maxx, had earlier reported to have admitted that information from 45.7 million credit and debit cards on both sides of the Atlantic had been stolen.

According to US court documents, three persons Sergey Pavlovich (Belarus), Dzmitry Burak and Storchak (both Ukraine) used a website on which credit card traffickers bought and sold data.

Sources said the US would have to initiate the extradition process to get access to Storchak.

 

Comments

 

Other News

`Development must be judged beyond GDP, with rights and justice at core`

Delivering the IXth Chief Justice M.C. Chagla Memorial Lecture on ‘Human Rights and Sustainable Development Goals’, in Mumbai Friday,  former Chief Justice of India Bhushan R. Gavai questioned whether conventional economic indicators such as gross domestic product (GDP), national income,

RTI exposes Rs 16,909 crore cost blowout on Mumbai-Goa Highway

Seventeen years after the centre first approved the widening of National Highway 66 between Mumbai and Goa into a four-lane highway, a fresh RTI reply has revealed a sharp escalation in the project`s sanctioned cost.   According to the RTI reply obtained by activist Jeetendra

"India`s semiconductor ecosystem is expanding rapidly"

Prime minister Narendra Modi on Thursday inaugurated SEMICON India 2026 in New Delhi. Addressing the occasion and highlighting the significance of the event`s fifth edition, the PM drew a parallel between the launch of Semicon India and Vishwakarma Diwas. He pointed out the beautiful coincidence of

Cabinet approves raising EPFO wage ceiling from Rs.15,000 p.m. to Rs.25,000

The union cabinet, chaired by the prime minister, has approved the proposal of the Ministry of Labour & Employment to enhance the wage ceiling for mandatory coverage under the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) from Rs.15,000 to Rs.25,000 per month. The decision is expected to bring

UPI continues to remain free for peer-to-peer transactions: Finance Ministry

The new UPI framework introduced has no impact on any person to person transactions, and UPI will continue to remain completely free for all person-to-person transactions, irrespective of the amount transferred, the finance ministry clarified on Tuesday.   Payments to merchan

SEMICON India 2026 and the making of a chip powerhouse

On Thursday, prime minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate SEMICON India 2026 at Yashobhoomi in Dwarka, New Delhi. Global chipmakers, policymakers and investors will fill the halls, all watching an industry India has built from the ground up. For three days, the country`s semi-con (semiconductor) manufact

Upcoming Conferences



-->

Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter