NEW YORK (RFE/RL) -- U.S. law enforcement authorities have announced the arrest in the Czech Republic of Dmitry M. Naskovets, a Belarusian national accused as a co-conspirator in over 2,000 instances of identity theft and over 5,000 instances of fraud over the Internet.
The indictment against Naskovets alleges that he created and operated a website, CallService.biz, through which the fraud was initiated.
Naskovets is charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit credit card fraud, and aggravated identity theft. He was arrested in Prague on April 15 and is being held pending his extradition to face trial in the United States.
Naskovets and his co-conspirator, Sergey Semashko, also a Belarusian national, have allegedly operated the website since June 2007 with the sole purpose of assisting identity thieves in exploiting stolen financial information, such as credit card and debit card numbers. The English and German-language site was designed to counteract the security measures put in place by financial institutions, the indictment says.
Semashko was arrested in a joint operation by law enforcement authorities in Belarus on April 15.
Lithuanian authorities seized the computer hardware that hosted the site.
If convicted on all counts, Naskovets faces up to 39 years in prison. The indictment does not say what sentence Semashko faces.
The indictment against Naskovets alleges that he created and operated a website, CallService.biz, through which the fraud was initiated.
Naskovets is charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit credit card fraud, and aggravated identity theft. He was arrested in Prague on April 15 and is being held pending his extradition to face trial in the United States.
Naskovets and his co-conspirator, Sergey Semashko, also a Belarusian national, have allegedly operated the website since June 2007 with the sole purpose of assisting identity thieves in exploiting stolen financial information, such as credit card and debit card numbers. The English and German-language site was designed to counteract the security measures put in place by financial institutions, the indictment says.
Semashko was arrested in a joint operation by law enforcement authorities in Belarus on April 15.
Lithuanian authorities seized the computer hardware that hosted the site.
If convicted on all counts, Naskovets faces up to 39 years in prison. The indictment does not say what sentence Semashko faces.