Zohar Pinhasi, the owner of MonsterCloud, was charged with wire fraud after allegedly deceiving ransomware victims by claiming his company could decrypt encrypted data without paying attackers. Prosecutors say he actually paid the ransomware groups, then billed clients for recovery services, including one case where an $8,200 ransom led to a $150,000 charge. #MonsterCloud #ZoharPinhasi
Keypoints
- Zohar Pinhasi was charged with wire fraud and conspiracy.
- He allegedly marketed MonsterCloud as a ransomware recovery service.
- Prosecutors say he paid ransom demands to obtain decryption keys.
- Clients were then billed large fees for the supposed recovery work.
- The scheme allegedly involved over $8 million in ransom payments and more than $19 million in client charges.
Read More: https://www.securityweek.com/fake-decryption-tools-masked-11m-markup-in-ransomware-recovery-scheme/