Man Pleads Guilty to Trying to Bribe Worker With Bitcoin in Would-Be Extortion Attempt
A Russian man has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to hack a U.S. company’s computer network in which he attempted to bribe an employee with bitcoin in a thwarted extortion attempt.
- Egor Igorevich Kriuchkov, 27, traveled to the U.S. to recruit an employee to his scheme to introduce malware into the unnamed company's network.
- According to the announcement from the U.S. Justice Department on Thursday, Kriuchkov offered to pay the employee in bitcoin for committing the act.
- The defendant made numerous trips between California and Nevada in August 2020 to entice the employee before the employee reported him to his employer, who in turn alerted the FBI.
- Kriuchkov pleaded guilty to conspiracy to intentionally cause damage to a protected computer.
- He is scheduled to be sentenced on May 10.
See also: New Zealand Stock Exchange Hit Repeatedly by Cybercriminals Demanding Bitcoin
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