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Three Romanian nationals indicted in cyber fraud case in which they infected 60,000 computers, sent out 11 million malicious emails and stole at least $4 million

A 21-count indictment was unsealed in which three Romanian nationals were charged for operating a cyber fraud conspiracy in which they infected 60,000 computers, sent out 11 million malicious emails and stole at least $4 million, said U.S. Attorney Carole S. Rendon and FBI Special Agent in Charge Stephen D. Anthony.

Bogdan Nicolescu, 34, Tiberiu Danet, 31, and Radu Miclaus, 34, were extradited to the United States this week after being taken into custody in their native Romania earlier this year. They are each charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to traffic in counterfeit service marks, aggravated identity theft, conspiracy to commit money laundering and 12 counts each of wire fraud.

“This case illustrates the sophistication and determination with which cyber criminals seek to harm Americans and American businesses from abroad,” said Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell.  “But our response demonstrates that, with effective international cooperation, we can track these criminals down and make sure they face justice, no matter where or how they try to hide.”

“These defendants stole millions of dollars from people in the United States through a sophisticated fraud conspiracy they operated in Eastern Europe,” Rendon said. “Cybercrime is an ever-growing threat. We will continue to work with both our partners in law enforcement and in the private sector to evolve with the threat and protect our networks and national security.”

“This indictment and subsequent arrests reveal the dynamic landscape in which international criminals utilize sophisticated cyber methods to take advantage of and defraud, unsuspecting victims,” Anthony said. “Despite the complexity and global character of these investigations, these arrests demonstrate the commitment by the FBI and our partners to aggressively pursue these individuals and bring justice to the victims.” 

According to the indictment filed in U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Ohio:


This malware harvested email addresses from the infected computer, such as from contact lists or email accounts, and then sent malicious emails to these harvested email addresses. The defendants infected and controlled more than 60,000 individual computers, primarily in the United States.


Controlling the computers also allowed the defendants group to use the processing power of the computer to solve complex algorithms for the financial benefit of the group, a process known as cryptocurrency mining.





These fictitious webpages prompted users to pay for their goods through a nonexistent “eBay Escrow Agent” who was simply a person hired by the defendants. Users paid for the goods to the fraudulent escrow agents, who in turn wired the money to others in Eastern Europe, who in turn gave it to the defendants. The payors/victims never received the items and never got their money back.

This resulted in a loss of at least $4 million.


This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Duncan T. Brown and Om Kakani and Brian Levine, Senior Counsel with the Justice Department’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section. The case was investigated by the FBI, with assistance from the Romanian National Police.

If convicted, the defendants’ sentences will be determined by the court after review of factors unique to this case, including the defendant’s prior criminal record, if any, the defendant’s role in the offense and the characteristics of the violations.  In all cases, the sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum and, in most cases, it will be less than the maximum.
