Fake Decryption Tools Masked $11M Markup in Ransomware Recovery Scheme
MonsterCloud owner Zohar Pinhasi was charged with wire fraud for marking up ransomware payments by about $11 million.
Zohar Pinhasi, 50, owner of US company MonsterCloud and also known as Zack Silver and Zack Green, appeared in a New York court on wire fraud and wire fraud conspiracy charges. Prosecutors say he told ransomware victims his firm could restore data with proprietary decryption tools without paying attackers. Instead he allegedly paid the ransomware operators for keys and charged clients a large markup. Across the scheme he allegedly paid more than $8 million in ransoms and charged clients more than $19 million, including one case of about $8,200 paid and about $150,000 billed.
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