The hacker arrested in Thailand is accused of phishing for credit card information
Keystone
A hacker wanted by Swiss prosecutors has been arrested in Thailand following a request for extradition by the Swiss federal prosecutor, the justice ministry has confirmed.
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swissinfo.ch and agencies
The hacker, who has dual Russian and Moroccan citizenship, was arrested on March 11, ministry spokesman Folco Galli told swissinfo.ch on Tuesday.
Filed in September 2013, the request for extradition by the Federal Office of Police was based on an arrest warrant from the federal prosecutor for the fraudulent use of a computer, Galli said.
The federal prosecutor confirmed on Tuesday that it had initiated proceedings against several people for phishing for information on credit cards, spokeswoman Jeannette Balmer told swissinfo.ch. She said one of the people had been arrested in Thailand. The amounts of money involved were “considerable”.
The arrested hacker was also behind the spread of the Zotob computer worm that targeted Windows 2000 and disrupted operations at news organisations and banks in 110 countries in 2005.
The virus allowed the hackers to remotely control infected computers and to hamper access to protection sites.
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If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.