Evgenii Ptitsyn, Ransomware Administrator Extradited, Maryland 2023

A Russian national, Evgenii Ptitsyn, 42, has been extradited from South Korea to face cybercrime charges in the United States for allegedly administering the sale, distribution, and operation of Phobos ransomware.

According to the indictment, beginning in at least November 2020, Ptitsyn and others conspired to engage in an international computer hacking and extortion scheme that victimized public and private entities through the deployment of Phobos ransomware.

Phobos ransomware, through its affiliates, victimized more than 1,000 public and private entities in the United States and around the world, and extorted ransom payments worth more than $16 million dollars.

Ptitsyn made his initial appearance in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland on November 4, after being extradited from South Korea.

The Justice Department is committed to leveraging the full range of our international partnerships to combat the threats posed by ransomware like Phobos, said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco.

Evgenii Ptitsyn allegedly extorted millions of dollars of ransom payments from thousands of victims and now faces justice in the United States thanks to the hard work and ingenuity of law enforcement agencies around the world — from the Republic of Korea to Japan to Europe and finally to Baltimore, Maryland.

As alleged in the indictment, Ptitsyn and his co-conspirators operated a darknet website to coordinate the sale and distribution of Phobos ransomware to co-conspirators and used online monikers to advertise their services on criminal forums and messaging platforms.

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