Three Arrested for Hacking Department of Defense Payroll Stealing $15M
Three Arrested for Hacking Department of Defense Payroll Stealing $15M
Three hackers have been indicted in the USA for trying to steal over 15 million dollars by hacking the Department of Defense payroll services. Hackers were alleged to gain access to over 15 different financial institutions.
US attorneys at a New Jersey hearing have sentenced the three hackers, Oleksiy Sharapka, 33, Leonid Yanovitsky, 39, and Richard Gundersen, 47, with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit access device fraud, identity theft, and aggravated identity theft. The two men Oleksiy Sharapka, Leonid Yanovitsky, are originally from the Ukraine, while the third hacker, Richard Gunderson, is from Brooklyn New York.
The three hackers were among eight people charged, according to U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman, who announced the indictments, Reuters reported.
U.S. Attory Paul Fishman said of the comprised financial institutions, hackers gained access to Aon Hewitt, Automatic Data Processing Inc, Citibank NA, eBay Inc’s PayPal, Electronic Payments Inc, E*Trade, Fundtech Holdings LLC, iPayment Inc, JPMorgan Chase Bank NA, Nordstrom Bank, TD Ameritrade, TIAA-CREF, USAA, Veracity Payment Solutions Inc, and the Defense Department’s finance and accounting service.
The hackers were alleged to gain unauthorized access to networks, then in transfer customer funds between bank accounts and pre-paid credit cards, which were then used to make fraudulent ATM withdraws and purchases in Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York and numerous other locations. Along with fraudulent transactions, the indicted men were believed to use stolen identities to evade the IRS and others taxing institutions.
Hackers starting running the operation around March 2012, the operation abruptly started after Oleksiy Sharapka was done serving a 7+ year sentence in a federal prison located in the USA. Oleksiy Sharapka was alleged to be the leader of the operation while the two others helped move fraudulent funds.
Two of the hackers could face up to 20 years in federal prison in the U.S.A. Oleksiy Sharapka is still awaiting trial.