Famous Russian Hacker Burkov Sentenced to 9 Years in U.S. Prison

Last week, the United States sentenced Alexei Burkov, the owner of two once-notorious carding websites, Cardplanet and Direct Connection. The 30-year-old Russian citizen received a nine-year prison sentence for operating sites that facilitated payment card fraud, computer hacking, and other cybercrimes.

This high-profile case has been covered multiple times before. To recap, Burkov was extradited to the U.S. from Israel in the fall of 2018, after being detained at Ben Gurion Airport in 2015 at the request of American authorities. Over the years, Russian officials attempted to exchange Alexei Burkov for Israeli citizen Naama Issachar, who had been sentenced in Russia to seven and a half years in prison for drug smuggling. When the exchange failed and Burkov was ultimately handed over to the U.S., the Russian embassy in Washington sent a note of protest to the State Department.

Details of the Case

According to U.S. law enforcement, Burkov ran the carding site Cardplanet from 2009 to 2013, where stolen credit card data was sold for prices ranging from $2.50 to $60 per card. The price depended on the card type, country of origin, whether the cardholder’s name and address were included, and other identifying information. Investigators claim that Burkov’s site even offered a money-back guarantee if the stolen card data no longer worked.

In total, more than 150,000 payment cards were listed for sale on Cardplanet, tens of thousands of which belonged to American users. The sale of these cards led to fraudulent purchases, causing losses of over $20 million among U.S. victims alone.

The U.S. Department of Justice also reported that Burkov owned another site, Direct Connection, which was closed to the general public. On this site, criminals could advertise the sale of stolen personal data, malware, and various illegal services. Access to this “closed club” was by invitation only: three existing members had to vouch for a newcomer, and there was a $5,000 entry fee, which served as a kind of insurance deposit.

Guilty Plea and Sentencing

In January 2020, Burkov pleaded guilty to wire fraud, access device fraud, conspiracy, identity theft, and money laundering, and admitted to running both of the aforementioned sites.

For these charges, Alexei Burkov faced up to 15 years in prison, but as mentioned above, the court sentenced him to nine years. The sentence takes into account the years Burkov has already spent in custody, so he will not serve the full nine years from now.

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