Alexander Mihailovski, Scareware Scheme, Washington 2018

Alexander Mihailovski, a 37-year-old citizen of Belarus, has been sentenced to four years in prison for his role in a $71 million cybercrime scheme.

Mihailovski, who operated a credit card payment processing company called Mystique Enterprises, LTD, doing business as PSBILL, Smart Systems, and Failsafe Payments, was part of an international cybercrime ring that infected victims’ computers with ‘scareware’ and sold fraudulent antivirus software.

The scareware used in this scheme was malicious software that posed as legitimate computer security software, causing popup notices to appear on the victims’ computers with false warnings that the computers had been infected and prompted the victims to purchase fake anti-virus software with a credit card at a cost of up to $129.

According to records in the case, approximately 960,000 users were victimized by this scareware scheme, leading to $71 million in actual losses.

Mihailovski’s sentencing is part of Operation Trident Tribunal, a coordinated enforcement action targeting international cybercrime rings that caused more than $71 million in total losses to more than one million computer users.

The prosecution of Mihailovski is a significant victory in the fight against cybercrime, and it highlights the importance of international cooperation in bringing these offenders to justice.

U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes stated, ‘Just like a bank robber needs a get-away driver, cyber fraudsters need people to turn their electronic scams into cash. Alexander Mihailovski ran a credit card processing company that was essentially ripping off nearly $71 million dollars from unsuspecting computer users.’

Alexander Mihailovski’s sentencing brings the total number of foreign nationals prosecuted in this particular scareware scheme to two, with Mikael Patrick Sallnert, a 40-year-old citizen of Sweden, also sentenced to four years in prison and ordered to pay $650,000 in forfeiture.

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