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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

$3 million reward offered for top Russian hacker

Brian Bennett Tribune News Service

WASHINGTON – A brazen Russian hacker who allegedly siphoned off more than $100 million from American bank accounts now has a multimillion-dollar price on his head.

The U.S. government announced Tuesday that it would pay up to $3 million for information leading to the arrest of Evgeniy Bogachev, whom U.S. officials call one of the world’s most advanced and prolific computer hackers. He was indicted in Pittsburgh last year on charges including bank fraud and conspiracy.

The reward is the largest ever offered in a cybercrime investigation, officials said.

Bogachev, whom FBI agents describe as “brilliant,” is believed to be living openly in the Russian beach town of Anapa, on the Black Sea east of Crimea. He is known to sail his yacht between resorts, the bureau said.

The FBI distributed “Wanted” posters around the world showing Bogachev leaning back in a striped polo shirt, smiling, with his head shaved. He “is known to enjoy boating and may travel to locations along the Black Sea in his boat,” according to the poster issued Tuesday. He also owns property in the lakefront town of Krasnodar, according to the FBI.

Russian authorities, who are not bound by an extradition treaty with the U.S., have shown no signs of helping to arrest Bogachev.

Joseph M. Demarest Jr., assistant director of the FBI’s Cyber Division, said the FBI hopes the reward will create an incentive for other hackers to help find him and turn him in to authorities.

“He’s in Russia; he’s not leaving,” Demarest told reporters.

Federal officials say that more than 1 million computers were infected by malicious software designed and launched by Bogachev in 2007.

The scheme used a so-called botnet named GameOver Zeus that allowed Bogachev to control thousands of computers around the world. The software captured bank account numbers, passwords and other personal information that was used to transfer money out of bank accounts.

The hacking operation was “one of the most sophisticated botnets ever created,” Demarest said. Bogachev is “brilliant at what he does,” he said.

So far, federal officials estimate that GameOver Zeus could still infect as many as 30 percent of the computers originally infiltrated around the globe.