WASHINGTON
The U.S. offered a reward of up to $3 million for information leading to the arrest of a Russian national wanted by the FBI for his alleged participation in a major cyber racketeering enterprise.
"Also known online as 'lucky12345' and 'slavik,' (Evgeniy Mikhailovich) Bogachev allegedly acted as an administrator in a scheme that installed malicious software on more than 1 million computers without authorization," according to a statement by the State Department.
The Zeus and GameOver Zeus, botnet software programs enabled contributors to the scheme to steal banking information and empty the compromised accounts, resulting in the theft of more than $100 million from U.S. businesses and consumers. Botnets are similar Internet-connected programs that communicate with each other to perform various tasks.
Bogachev currently appears on the FBI’s Cyber’s Most Wanted List and is believed to be at large in Russia.
The reward was offered by Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program established by Congress in 2013 to assist in efforts to disrupt and dismantle transnational organized crime.
