Ukrainian hacker sentenced in Seattle to 5 years in prison
Apr 7, 2022, 1:27 AM | Updated: 1:39 pm
SEATTLE (AP) — A Ukrainian man who served as a high-level hacker in a ring that stole more than 20 million credit and debit card records, causing an estimated $1 billion in losses, has been sentenced to five years in prison.
Denys Iarmak, 32, is the third member of the hacking group FIN7 to be sentenced in the U.S. He was arrested in Bangkok in November 2019 at the request of federal investigators. He was extradited in 2020 and pleaded guilty last fall to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit computer hacking.
According to federal prosecutors, U.S. District Judge Ricardo S. Martinez sentenced him Thursday in Seattle, saying there was “some irony” that the group plundered the United States, which is now supporting Ukraine amid Russia’s invasion.
FIN7 engaged in sophisticated phishing scams to breach the computer networks and point-of-sale terminals of about 3,600 business locations in all 50 states since at least 2015, many of them restaurants, gambling or hospitality businesses. Among the restaurant chains that disclosed attacks attributed to FIN7 were Chipotle Mexican Grill, Chili’s, Arby’s and Red Robin.
The group then sold the credit and debit card information.
Iarmak was involved from approximately November 2016 through November 2018. He used project management software to coordinate FIN7 hacking efforts, investigators said.
Seattle U.S. Attorney Nick Brown said Iarmak continued even after other FIN7 members had been arrested.
“Iarmak and his conspirators compromised millions of financial accounts, causing over a billion dollars in losses to Americans and costs to America’s economy,” Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said in a news release.
FIN7 member Fedir Hladyr was sentenced last year to 10 years in prison, and another co-conspirator, Andrii Kolpakov, received seven years.
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