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

Gandhian movement after Gandhi failed: Ram Guha

The Gandhian movement in India, after Gandhi’s death, failed, says Ramachandra Guha, and blames Vinoba Bhave for it. But the movement found new, fertile grounds around the world and succeeded in bringing about a change in South Africa, the US and elsewhere. It is high time it returned home. Of cour

When religion, politics and Bollywood come together

Tavleen Singh, noted journalist and political commentator, has turned to fiction, with her debut novel ‘The Actor’ (HaperCollins India). Set in the near future, it has a superstar, Amit Singh, turning to politics, when the political landscape is dominated by prime minister Guru Gaynendraj

Cabinet approves setting up of Integrated Transport & Logistics Authority

The union cabinet, chaired by prime minister Narendra Modi, on Tuesday approved the setting up of a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), called Integrated Transport & Logistics Authority (ITLA), to strengthen research, planning, appraisal, monitoring and impact assessment within the broad domains of Transp

Why foundational literacy and numeracy is key to school education

Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) are often described as the building blocks of education. Yet, their significance goes well beyond a child’s ability to read a sentence, write a response or solve a basic mathematical problem. These foundational skills shape how children understand the world,

When police data becomes the algorithm

For decades, policing has followed a familiar sequence: a crime occurs, the police respond, an investigation produces records and those records become part of the institutional memory of the criminal justice system. Artificial intelligence is beginning to alter that sequence. Instead of merely recording

Before India voted, the framers worried about the referee

“We are making a Constitution forever and not only for today.” Shibban Lal Saksena said this in the Constituent Assembly on June 15, 1949. He was warning that a ruling party might one day choose a loyalist to run India’s elections. Seventy-seven years later, the Supreme Court is wrestli

Upcoming Conferences



-->

Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter