30
30
30
30
42
Black Axe Members Extradited to US Over Internet Fraud Claims
Five alleged Black Axe leaders were extradited from South Africa to the US over romance scam and money laundering charges.
Five Nigerian nationals who allegedly led Black Axe's Cape Town zone were extradited to the US on September 11 and appeared in federal court in Trenton, New Jersey on September 14. The superseding indictment alleges romance scams, advance-fee fraud, BEC, and money laundering via US bank accounts between 2011 and 2021, using social media, dating sites, and VoIP, with coercion via threats to distribute victims' intimate photos. Charges include wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy carrying up to 20 years each, plus aggravated identity theft for three defendants.
40
Five alleged leaders of Black Axe’s operations in South Africa extradited to US
US extradited five alleged Black Axe Cape Town leaders from South Africa to face romance-scam wire fraud and money laundering charges.
The Justice Department announced five alleged leaders of Black Axe's South African wing, all Nigerian nationals, were extradited to the US over romance and advance-fee scams run from at least 2011 until their 2021 arrests in South Africa. Prosecutors say the group used fake identities and threatened to expose victims' sensitive photos, with charges including wire fraud, money laundering, and aggravated identity theft carrying up to 62 years. The extradition follows recent multi-country stings arresting dozens of Black Axe members, including 34 arrests in Spain.
45
Russian Man Extradited Over Malware Campaign Targeting Freelancers
A Russian national was extradited to the US for allegedly spreading TVRAT and DarkVNC malware to 80,000 freelance platform users via Excel attachments.
Searzhudin Tamirlanovich Aktulaev, 40, was arrested in Cyprus in May 2025, extradited on August 28, 2026, and indicted on conspiracy, computer damage, unauthorized access and aggravated identity theft charges. Prosecutors say he and co-conspirators used about 255 fake accounts on a freelance employment platform's messaging system to send macro-laden Excel attachments between June 2016 and November 2017, deploying TVRAT (TVSPY/TeamSpy) and DarkVNC remote access trojans. Thousands of victims were identified on a US-hosted C2 domain, with roughly half of the 80,000 affected users in the US; C2 infrastructure was paid for with virtual currency. If convicted he faces up to 20 years for wire fraud conspiracy plus additional terms and fines.
35
30
30
Members of ‘Black Axe’ cybercriminal group extradited from South Africa
Five Black Axe members extradited from South Africa face US wire fraud and money laundering charges over romance scams defrauding more than 100 victims.
Perry Osagiede, Franklyn Edosa Osagiede, Osariemen Eric Clement, Collins Owhofasa Otughwor and Musa Mudashiru, leaders of Black Axe's Cape Town branch, were extradited September 11 and appear before a federal judge in Trenton, New Jersey under a 2021 indictment. They ran romance scams from 2011 to 2021 that stole thousands of dollars from over 100 people, threatening to leak sensitive photos and laundering proceeds through South African companies; some funds also traced to business email compromise. Wire fraud and money laundering charges each carry up to 20 years. Treasury estimates $12.7 billion stolen from Americans since 2023 via overseas romance and investment scams.
48
Russian suspect in bank account takeovers is extradited to US
Russian web developer Sergei Filimonov was extradited from Georgia to the US to face charges in a multimillion-dollar bank account takeover fraud.
Sergei Anatolyevich Filimonov, 36, appeared in an Atlanta federal court on September 4 and pleaded not guilty to bank fraud, wire fraud, access device fraud, and aggravated identity theft charges. Prosecutors say that from November 2023 to October 2025 his group bought sponsored search-engine links that diverted online banking customers to spoofed login pages, stole their credentials, and initiated unauthorized wire transfers. The FBI linked the scheme to the December 2025 seizure of the domain web3adspanels.org, identifying at least 19 victims, roughly $14.6 million in confirmed losses, and about $28 million in attempted losses.
45
30
42
42
60
30
30
Members of ‘Black Axe’ cybercriminal group extradited from South Africa
Five alleged Black Axe members extradited from South Africa face US charges over romance scams defrauding more than 100 victims.
Five alleged members of the Black Axe cybercriminal organization were extradited from South Africa and will make their first US court appearance Monday. Prosecutors unsealed a 2021 indictment accusing them of running romance scams that stole thousands of dollars from more than 100 people. Named defendants include Perry Osagiede and Franklyn Edosa Osagiede.
25
Russian suspect in bank account takeovers is extradited to US
Russian developer Sergei Filimonov was extradited to the U.S. and pleaded not guilty to multimillion-dollar bank account takeover fraud.
Sergei Anatolyevich Filimonov, a 36-year-old Russian web developer, has been extradited to the United States to face an indictment in a multimillion-dollar bank account takeover scheme. He appeared in Atlanta federal court on September 4 and pleaded not guilty to fraud charges. Federal authorities announced the extradition on Tuesday.
28
Russian national extradited to US for alleged involvement in bank-account takeover scheme
US extradited Russian national Sergei Filimonov over a bank-account takeover scheme using spoofed bank domains that defrauded two banks of $6.3 million.
US authorities extradited 36-year-old Russian national Sergei Anatolyevich Filimonov from the Republic of Georgia on charges including bank and wire fraud conspiracy and aggravated identity theft. He and unnamed co-conspirators allegedly ran spoofed bank domains, bought sponsored links to lure victims, and harvested over 5,000 victim login credentials starting in November 2023, causing unauthorized transfers of about $5.58 million and $735,000 from two banks in 2024. The FBI previously identified at least 19 US victims linked to the credential-storage domain, with roughly $28 million in attempted losses including $14.6 million confirmed. Filimonov faces up to 175 years in prison, pleaded not guilty on September 4, and remains detained in the Northern District of Georgia.
45
Extradited Russian Hacker Faces Charges Over Excel Malware Campaign That Infected Thousands
US DoJ charged extradited Russian Searzhudin Aktulaev for a 2016-2017 Excel macro campaign infecting ~80,000 freelance platform users with TVRAT and DarkVNC.
Searzhudin Tamirlanovich Aktulaev, 40, was arrested in Cyprus in May 2025 and extradited to the US on August 28, facing charges including wire fraud conspiracy and aggravated identity theft. The indictment alleges ~255 fake freelance-platform accounts were used to send Excel macro attachments to about 80,000 users in 2016-2017, deploying TVRAT (TeamSpy/TVSPY) and DarkVNC RATs for remote access and data theft. Thousands of infected machines called back to a US-hosted C2 domain, with stolen credentials and PII stored in the shared email account used in the scheme.
25
60
30
55
42
55
60
30
60
30
30
42
42
42
30
30
30
60
60