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Russian hackers steal over $500,000 from Turkish banks

Two Russian hackers have allegedly stolen over $500,000 from bank accounts in Turkey, according to Russian newswire Ria Novosti.The hackers, who came from the Russian city of Togliatti on the Volga:"purchased a dedicated server with remote access to a desktop hosted in a U.
Written by Tom Espiner, Contributor

Two Russian hackers have allegedly stolen over $500,000 from bank accounts in Turkey, according to Russian newswire Ria Novosti.

The hackers, who came from the Russian city of Togliatti on the Volga:

"purchased a dedicated server with remote access to a desktop hosted in a U.S. data center, and a special application capable of infecting banking computers in Turkey with a Trojan virus to obtain information on bank accounts, investigators said. One of the hackers has been arrested, and the other is on a [Russian] federal wanted list.

After processing the obtained information, the hackers transferred money to accounts of Turkish collaborators, who in turn cashed the money in and later transferred it to Togliatti via Western Union.

The Interior Ministry's investigation committee said there were a total of 265 registered money transfers totaling $508,000 between February 2005 and April 2007," according to Ria Novosti.

Herman Zampariolo, chief executive officer of Wabisabilabi, the controversial online auction house for software vulnerabilities, said:

"Based on the limited information released so far by the authorities in both countries, it is no wonder the Russian Interior Ministry has spent a lot of time and resources investigating the activities of these two men."

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