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Man Pleads Guilty to Trying to Bribe Worker With Bitcoin in Would-Be Extortion Attempt

The man traveled to the U.S. to recruit an employee to introduce malware into the unnamed company's network, the DOJ alleges.

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A Russian man has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to hack a U.S. company's computer network in which he attempted to bribe an employee with bitcoin in a thwarted extortion attempt.

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  • Egor Igorevich Kriuchkov, 27, traveled to the U.S. to recruit an employee to his scheme to introduce malware into the unnamed company's network.
  • According to the announcement from the U.S. Justice Department on Thursday, Kriuchkov offered to pay the employee in bitcoin for committing the act.
  • The defendant made numerous trips between California and Nevada in August 2020 to entice the employee before the employee reported him to his employer, who in turn alerted the FBI.
  • Kriuchkov pleaded guilty to conspiracy to intentionally cause damage to a protected computer.
  • He is scheduled to be sentenced on May 10.

See also: New Zealand Stock Exchange Hit Repeatedly by Cybercriminals Demanding Bitcoin

Jamie Crawley

Jamie has been part of CoinDesk's news team since February 2021, focusing on breaking news, Bitcoin tech and protocols and crypto VC. He holds BTC, ETH and DOGE.

Jamie Crawley