FBI offering $100,000 reward for information on Most Wanted Cyber Criminals

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The US Federal Bureau of Investigation has added five new hackers to its Cyber most wanted list and is seeking information from the public regarding their whereabouts.

The new fugitives on the FBI's Cyber Most Wanted list are:

• Pakistani nationals Farhan Arshad and Noor Aziz Uddin, wanted for their alleged involvement in an international telecommunications hacking scheme. Between 2008 and 2012, the pair gained unauthorized access to business telephone systems, resulting in losses exceeding $50 million. Arshad and Uddin are part of an international criminal ring that the FBI believes extends into Pakistan, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, Spain, Singapore, Italy, Malaysia and elsewhere.

• Carlos Perez-Melara, wanted for a variety of cyber crimes-including running a fraudulent website in 2003 that offered customers a way to "catch a cheating lover." Those who took the bait downloaded spyware that secretly installed a program on their computers that allowed scammers to steal the victims' identities and personal information.
• Syrian national Andrey Nabilevich Taame, wanted for his alleged role in Operation Ghost Click, a malware scheme that compromised more than four million computers in more than 100 countries between 2007 and October 2011; there were at least 500,000 victims in the United States alone.
• Russian national Alexsey Belan, wanted for allegedly remotely accessing the computer networks of three U.S.-based companies in 2012 and 2013 and stealing sensitive data as well as employees' identities.

Others already on the FBI's list include:

• Peteris Sahurovs is wanted for his alleged involvement in an international cybercrime scheme that took place from February of 2010 to September of 2010. The scheme utilized a computer virus that involved the online sale of fraudulent computer security programs that defrauded Internet users of more than $2 million.

• Artem Semenov is wanted for his alleged participation in an Eastern European cyber crime ring, operating out of New York, which is known for recruiting money mules to open bank accounts, cashing out money received through unauthorized money transfers, and then transferring the money overseas. An arrest warrant was issued for Semenov in the Southern District of New York on September 29, 2010, after he was charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud; conspiracy to possess false identification documents; and false use of passport.
• Shaileshkumar P. Jain, along with his co-conspirator, Bjorn Daniel Sundin, is wanted for his alleged involvement in an international cybercrime scheme that caused internet users in more than 60 countries to purchase more than one million bogus software products, resulting in consumer loss of more than $100 million. It is alleged that from December 2006 to October 2008, through fake advertisements placed on legitimate companies' websites, Jain and his accomplices deceived internet users into believing that their computers were infected with "malware" or had other critical errors in order to encourage them to purchase "scareware" software products that had limited or no ability to remedy the purported defects.
• Alexandr Sergeyevich Bobnev was indicted in the Southern District of New York on November 26, 2008, on one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. Bobnev was indicted for his alleged participation in a money laundering scheme involving unauthorized access to the accounts of a major provider of investment services. Bobnev allegedly accessed compromised accounts and wire transferred funds out of these accounts to money mules in the United States. These mules were then responsible for transferring the money back to Bobnev. Between June of 2007 and August of 2007, Bobnev allegedly wired or attempted to wire over $350,000 from compromised accounts.