An 18-year-old hacker from Odessa launched infostealer-type malware and conspired with other cybercriminals to attack users of an online store in the US state of California.
An 18-year-old hacker from Odessa launched infostealer-type malware and conspired with other cybercriminals to attack users of an online store in the US state of California.
According to the Ukrainian cyber police, during 2024–2025, the guy infected users' devices with viruses to steal browser sessions and account passwords.
Infostealers are a type of malware that collects sensitive data from infected devices, including passwords, cookies, session tokens, payment information, and cryptocurrency wallet data, and sends it to cybercriminals for account theft, fraud, or further resale.
That's exactly what the Odessa resident was doing. He was stealing session data from users of an unnamed online store in California and selling it to other cybercriminals.
Law enforcement officials noted that 28,000 user accounts were affected by the hacker's actions. Thanks to this, the fraudsters were able to purchase goods worth almost $721,000 without the owners' knowledge.
Direct losses from this scheme exceeded $250,000, including losses from chargebacks.
"To implement the criminal scheme, the attackers used malicious software of the "infostealer" type, which imperceptibly infected users' devices, collected credentials and transferred them to servers controlled by the attackers. The information obtained was subsequently processed and sold through specialized online resources and Telegram bots," the police said in a statement.
According to law enforcement, the suspect used cryptocurrency services to conduct financial transactions with his accomplices.
The perpetrator's role in this scheme appears to have been central. He administered the online infrastructure necessary to process, sell, and further use the stolen data.
During two searches at the suspect's residence, mobile phones, computer equipment, bank cards, electronic media, and other digital evidence were seized.
