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Red or alive, you're coming with me: Feds offer $3m reward for 'CryptoLocker baron'

Evgeniy Bogachev accused of GameOver ZeuS botnet crimes

The US State Department and the FBI, have stumped up $3m in reward money for the arrest of Evgeniy Mikhailovich Bogachev, the 30-year-old Russian man accused of stealing over $100m with his malware.

Russian wanted by FBI

Have you seen this man?

Bogachev, who operated under the aliases "lucky12345," "Slavik," and "Pollingsoon," was the systems administrator for the Gameover ZeuS botnet, a network that included 500,000 slaved PCs at its peak. The botnet was disrupted by authorities last year but remains operational.

The Russian is also accused [PDF] of masterminding the CryptoLocker ransomware, which encrypts victims' hard drives and demands that they pay for the decryption key. CryptoLocker was widely distributed on the Gameover ZeuS botnet and has infected hundreds and thousands of PCs.

"This was a worldwide infection, but it also had law enforcement worldwide working to combat it and bring to justice the criminal organization behind it," said FBI assistant director Joseph Demarest.

"We are turning to the world again for assistance in locating Bogachev. While he is known to reside in Russia, he may travel. With this $3 million reward incentive, someone, somewhere may see him and let the authorities know his whereabouts."

Bogachev is 5'9" tall, weighs around 180lbs, and has brown eyes and hair, although he usually shaves the latter. He was last seen in the Russian seaside resort of Anapa and may be traveling along the coast in his yacht, although he owns property in other parts of Putin's kingdom.

He is believed to be still in Russia, although as the FBI obvserves, "he may travel." Anyone spotting him and wishing to cash in can call the feds at 1-800-225-5324 to pass on their tips, or do it online at tips.fbi.gov. ®

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