Tag: Cybercrime
Jacob Butler, DDoS, Alaska 2026
⏱ 3 min read Jacob Butler, a 23-year-old Canadian man, was arrested in Ottawa, Canada, for operating the notorious KimWolf Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) Internet of Things (IoT) botnet. The botnet infected over a million devices worldwide, including devices in Alaska, and was used to launch massive DDoS attacks, including one that reached a…
Keith Havener, Child Pornography Possession, Iowa 2026
⏱ 2 min read Keith Havener, a 62-year-old man from Sioux City, Iowa, pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography after a disturbing investigation revealed he had created and possessed over 1,000 images of child porn using artificial intelligence technology. The crimes occurred between June 1, 2024, and January 13, 2025, and involved the creation of…
Sohaib Akhter, Computer Fraud, Virginia 2025
⏱ 2 min read Sohaib Akhter, a 34-year-old Alexandria man, worked for a Washington, D.C. company that provided software products and services to over 45 federal government agencies. On February 1, 2025, Akhter used his access to obtain a plaintext password for an individual who submitted a complaint to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC)…
Deniss Zolotarjovs, Money Laundering and Wire Fraud Conspiracy, California 2025
⏱ 2 min read A ruthless ransomware negotiator who helped his gang rake in $56 million has been slapped with an 8.5-year prison sentence for conspiring to commit money laundering and wire fraud. Deniss Zolotarjovs, 35, was the go-to guy for the notorious Karakurt gang, which carried out a string of brazen cyberattacks, including a…
James Robert Smith, Child Abuse, California 2020
⏱ 3 min read In a bid to protect children from the darker side of the internet, the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts is hosting a virtual webinar on May 7, 2026, at 6:30 PM (EST). The event, titled ‘Keeping Kids Safe and Secure Online’, will feature presentations from experts at…
Dread Pirate Roberts, Money Laundering, California 2013
⏱ 2 min read A Colombian kingpin is facing the heat after being extradited to the US for masterminding a massive dark web marketplace that raked in millions from illicit deals. Patrick Schmitz, 37, lived in Taganga, Colombia, but was born in Germany. The Versus Project, also known as Versus, was a top-tier dark web…
Matthew Bathula, Unauthorized Access to a Protected Computer, Maryland 2016
⏱ 2 min read A pharmacy insider allegedly spent eight years secretly spying on nearly 200 people, including co-workers and patients, through a Maryland medical system’s computers. Matthew Bathula, 41, of Clarksville, used various cyber intrusion techniques to obtain victims’ usernames, passwords, cookies, images, videos, and other data between July 2016 and September 2024. The…
Robert Levinson, Money Laundering, Nevada 2020
⏱ 2 min read Las Vegas, NV – A ruthless cryptocurrency cartel laundered millions, but the feds are cracking down. The Las Vegas Homeland Security Task Force hosted a panel discussion on cryptocurrency-related crimes, featuring federal and local law enforcement partners. Panelists discussed trends in cryptocurrency-related crimes, tools used to investigate these cases, and the…
Oluwafemi Michael Awoyemi, Wire Fraud Conspiracy, Ohio 2023
⏱ 3 min read A brazen international email hacking scheme cooked up in Toledo has been brought to justice. Two men and one woman, Oluwafemi Michael Awoyemi, Aruan Drake, and Peter Reed, were convicted of involvement in the massive $215 million scam that targeted over 1,000 victims across 47 states and 19 countries. The scheme,…
Teen Charged in Swatting Spree Targeting Eastern PA Universities
⏱ 2 min read A rash of swatting calls aimed at universities in Eastern Pennsylvania and elsewhere in August 2025 has led to federal charges against a 17-year-old member of the online cybercriminal group ‘Purgatory.’ Prosecutors say the defendant randomly selected the victim institutions, which included universities in PA, and was not affiliated with any…
