Accused Cypriot scammer threatened to publish stolen data if victims didn’t pay huge extortion fees
The government of Cyprus has extradited a 21-year-old accused cybercriminal to the United States after he was accused of breaching a number of U.S. companies as part of a years-long extortion effort. Joshua Epifaniou, a Cypriot national, arrived in New York City on Friday, more than two years after he was initially arrested in connection with a corporate hacking spree. Epifaniou is charged with stealing personal information from at least four sites, then demanding a payment in exchange for not publishing that data, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Epifaniou also hacked Ripoff Report, a business accountability site, and charged his clients between $3,000 and $5,000 to delete relevant complaints, prosecutors contend. Epifaniou also allegedly worked with a search engine optimization firm to research companies disparaged on Ripoff Report that would be most likely to pay for his services. The Justice Department announced Saturday that Epifaniou was the first […]
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