Crime & Safety
NYC Men Charged In $530M Global Cyber-fraud Scheme
A 31-year-old Queens man and a 33-year-old Brooklyn man were among 36 charged in the massive identity theft enterprise.
FLUSHING, QUEENS -- Two New York City men face charges for their alleged roles in a massive international cyber-fraud ring that caused more than $530 million stolen funds.
Pius Sushil Wilson, 31, of Flushing, and John Telusma, 33, of Brooklyn, were among 36 alleged scammers involved in the Infraud Organization, a cybercrime-group that acquired, sold and distributed stolen IDs, compromised debit and credit cards, and other financial and baking information on the dark web for seven years, authorities said.
The group's alleged ringleader, 34-year-old Svyatoslav Bondarenko founded Infraud Organization in Ukraine to be a premier online forum for "carding" - buying items online with fake or stolen credit card information - according to a Las Vegas indictment released Wednesday.
Bondarenko - also known as "Obnon," "Rector" or Helkern" - led the organization under the slogan "In Fraud We Trust" as it trafficked potential buyers to group members' automated sites, which served as online tools to funnel in stolen means of ID, financial and baking information, malware and other illegal goods, according to the indictment.
The cybercrime forum operated for seven years under a hierarchy of "administrators,"super moderators" and "vendors," selling its illegal goods and services to "members" and "VIP members." Each were known by their online nicknames.
Wilson operated under the names "FDIC," variations of "TheRealGuru," and "1nfection." Telusma was known as "John Westley Telusma," "Peterelliot," and "Pette," according to the indictment. Their roles in the organization were unclear.
Around 10,091 members were using the forum to collect information for identity theft by the time the cyber-ring was shut down in March 2017, the indictment stated.
The group was charged on Wednesday with racketeering, conspiracy and other crimes. International law enforcement authorities have arrested 13 indicted in the scheme from the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Kosovo and Serbia, said Acting Assistant Attorney General John Cronan.
"Today's indictment and arrests mark one of the largest cyber-fraud enterprise prosecutions ever undertaken by the Department of Justice," Cronan said. "Its members allegedly caused more than $530 million in actual losses to consumers, businesses and financial institutions alike - and it is alleged that the losses they intended to cause amounted to more than $2.2 billion."
Lead photo via Shutterstock.
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