Russia detains hackers for stealing 25 mln dollars from bank accounts

Xinhua News Agency

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Fifty members of a hacking ring were arrested on suspicion of stealing over 1.7 billion rubles (over 25 million U.S. dollars) from Russian bank accounts, said the authorities on Wednesday.

The group has created a malicious computer program to gain access to accounts of legal entities and correspondent accounts of financial institutions, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.

The suspects have been detained in 15 different regions and transported to Moscow with the support of the newly created National Guard, the Federal Security Service said in a separate statement.

During the searches, a large amount of computer equipment, electronic data storage devices, SIM cards, bank cards, rubber stamps and forged documents of legal entities have been seized.

The investigation department of the Interior Ministry has opened a criminal case.