Russian Hackers Sentenced to 10–13 Years for RZD and S7 Ticket Fraud

Russian Hackers Sentenced for RZD and S7 Ticket Fraud

This week, the Basmanny District Court of Moscow sentenced three Russian citizens who hacked the systems of Russian Railways (RZD) and S7 Airlines. Between 2012 and 2014, they illegally issued over 5,000 electronic travel receipts, causing losses totaling more than 17 million rubles by conducting fraudulent ticket refunds.

Maksim Matyushev, Andrey Zhdanov, and Kirill Kulabukhov were found guilty of organizing a criminal group, participating in a criminal organization, and committing computer fraud. Matyushev was sentenced to 13 years in a high-security penal colony, Zhdanov received 12.5 years in a high-security colony, and Kulabukhov was sentenced to 10 years in a general-regime colony.

Details of the Fraud Scheme

According to reports, in 2013–2014, the convicted individuals committed more than 60 acts of fraud across Moscow, St. Petersburg, Vladimir, Novosibirsk, Ufa, the Moscow region, and the Altai Territory. The hackers sent emails containing malware to organizations selling railway tickets. When recipients opened these emails, the malware installed itself on their operating systems, giving the hackers full access to the ticket agents’ personal accounts.

With access to the cashier interface, the fraudsters entered information about fake passengers into electronic receipts and made payments using the organizations’ funds. They then cashed out the money by returning the tickets at railway ticket offices.

Investigation and Trial

In total, 31 victims and more than 190 witnesses were questioned during the investigation.

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