Kristina Svechinskaya
| Kristina Vladimirovna Svechinskaya | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 16, 1989 |
| Occupation | money mule |
Kristina Vladimirovna Svechinskaya (Russian: Кристина Владимировна Свечинская, born February 16, 1989) is a Russian money mule hacker. A student of the New York University, she was accused of a plot to defraud several British and U.S. banks of sizeable sums and usage of false passports.[1] According to charges, Svechinskaya used Zeus trojan horse to attack thousands of bank accounts and opened at least five accounts in Bank of America and Wachovia,[2] which received $35,000 (£22,000) of money theft.[1] It is estimated that with nine other people Svechinskaya had skimmed $3 million in total.[1][3] Svechinskaya was dubbed "the world's sexiest computer hacker" for her raunchy, but casual appearance and was compared to Anna Chapman.[1]
Life
Fluent in English, Svechinskaya was originally studying at the Stavropol State University.[4] According to Svechinskaya's mother, after the death of Kristina's father their family was living on a sole 12,000 ruble ($400 USD at the time) salary. While on her third year, Kristina chose the Work & Travel program and arrived to Massachusetts,[4] where she started to work in a fastfood branch. The earnings in Massachusetts however were small and she moved to New York where she chose to work as a hacker's money mule.[4] Svechinskaya was offered an 8-10% share from taken money.[5] The sentence was expected to be announced in June 2011,[6] but after the arrest Svechinskaya signed a personal recognizance bond[6] and was released under $25,000 bail.[7] In case of conviction, Svechinskaya could have been imprisoned for up to 40 years.[1] This includes the plot charge (30 years and the $1 million fine) and the false passports charge (10 years and the $250,000 fine).
Svechinskaya maintains a personal page at Formspring.
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Leonard, Tom (2010-10-14). "World's 'sexiest computer hacker' appears in court charged with $3m computer scam". London: Daily Mail. Retrieved 2010-11-02.
- ↑ Владимир Козловский. В деле о хакерах таблоиды США нашли вторую Чэпман (in Russian). BBC Russian Service. Retrieved 2010-11-02.
- ↑ "Kristina Svechinskaya: Accused Russian Hacker". CBS News. Retrieved 2010-11-02.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 В США ставропольскую студентку обвинили в банковском мошенничестве (in Russian). Komsomolskaya Pravda. Retrieved 2010-11-02.
- ↑ Ставропольской студентке Кристине Свечинской грозит до 40 лет тюрьмы (in Russian). Komsomolskaya Pravda. Retrieved 2011-07-20.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Россиянку, подозреваемую в США в мошенничестве, отпустят под залог (in Russian). RIA Novosti. Retrieved 2010-12-04.
- ↑ Суд над арестованными в США по обвинению в кибермошенничестве российскими студентами завершится в ближайшие месяцы (in Russian). Information Security. Retrieved 2011-11-26.