US Says Global Spam Scheme Targeted After Mastermind Nabbed

U.S. authorities announced this week they are working to dismantle a global computer network that sent hundreds of millions of spam emails worldwide each year. The Russian man alleged to be at the head of the scheme was arrested Friday in Spain.

- 

The U.S. Justice Department said it was working to take down the sprawling Kelihos botnet, which at times was made up of more than 100,000 compromised computers that sent phony emails advertising counterfeit drugs and work-at-home scams, harvested users’ logins and installed malware that intercepted their bank account passwords.

 

Controlling the vast network since 2010 was Pyotr Levashov, a 36-year-old described in U.S. court documents made public as “one of the world’s most notorious criminal spammers.”

Levashov’s arrest in Barcelona on Friday, following a joint U.S.-Spanish operation, set cyber security circles abuzz after his wife told Russia’s RT broadcaster that he was being linked to America’s 2016 election hacking. Justice Department officials said there was no such connection but declined to elaborate. Details of a pending criminal case against Levashov in the United States remain sealed.