Russian Man Offered $1 Million In BTC To Plant Malware On PC Company

A Russian man offered people $1 million in BTC while trying to recruit someone to plant malware on a computer company network. The man tried to enlist other people to install the malware on a Nevada Company’s network so let’s find out more in the Bitcoin scam news.

Egor Igorevich Kriuchkov offered to pay an employee at a Nevada company $1 million in BTC to install malware on the computers of the company. The plans never came true as the employee opted to report the Russian national to the FBI instead. According to the court documents, the US Department of Justice charged the Russian man who traveled from Russia to the United States and tried to recruit the employee to plant malware. He was charged with conspiracy to damage a protected computer network and the 27-year old told the employee he was a part of a much bigger gang.

Over the course of three weeks, the FBI tracked the movements of the Russian national and eavesdropped on his communications so they were able to collect a lot of evidence against him before arresting him in Los Angeles. The complaint filed in the US District in Reno laid out all alleged interactions with the employee in detail. Kriuchkov contacted the employee via Whatsapp and tried to arrange a meeting in Nevada. He entered the US two days after and met with people several times, paying for dinner and other entertainment.

Kriuchkov told the employee that the malware was executed and it will give the Russian colleagues access to data in the company’s network. The gang would then sell the data in darknet markets unless the company pays a ransom. To keep the company occupied while the data was being stolen, Kriuchkov said that his fellow gang members will launch a DDoS attack on the company’s servers. At the start of August, Kriuchkov disclosed his plan to the company’ employee and explained that he works for a group that will pay people to plant malware on the company’s servers. Kriuchkov offered CHS1 (the codename for the employee) $500,000 for installing the malware, with an additional $500,000 after the malware was planted.

Kriuchkov met up with CHS1 on August 21, saying that the plan was delayed and that his group stared another project which was supposed to bring more money. He told CHS1 he was going away from the US but Law enforcement agents caught him the following day.