The U.S. Secret Service has added Russian hacker Alexey Stroganov, known online as Flint, to its wanted list. This update was reported by various cybercrime monitoring teams.
The agency states that between May 2007 and July 2017 Flint took part in a criminal conspiracy aimed at breaking into computer networks belonging to individuals and organizations to steal debit and credit card numbers along with personal cardholder information.
According to the U.S. Secret Service, the hacker and his co conspirators gathered data on hundreds of millions of credit cards and bank accounts.
A government release indicates Stroganov organized the sale and resale of this data to turn a profit and provided intermediaries with access to databases containing payment card details tied to hundreds of thousands of accounts.
Coordinated middlemen then distributed the data through cybercrime forums and darknet marketplaces. Experts in the United States estimate that losses suffered by financial institutions as a result of this operation exceeded more than 35 million dollars.
Stroganov, also known by the alias Flint, faces one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud against a financial institution, three counts of wire fraud, three counts of bank fraud, and three counts of aggravated identity theft.
Earlier, U.S. authorities charged Russian nationals Artur Sungatov and Ivan Kondratiev for their roles in joining the notorious hacker group known as LockBit, highlighting a broader pattern of organized cybercrime activity linked to this network.
These actions reflect a broader narrative of high profile cybercriminal activity in recent years that has drawn international attention and ongoing law enforcement response across borders.
American investigators have underscored the persistent risks posed by large scale data breaches and the financial harm they cause to institutions and consumers alike. The situation remains a focal point for federal efforts to disrupt cybercrime ecosystems and to pursue accountability for those who traffic stolen payment data. (attribution: U.S. Secret Service)