Overview
- Germany’s BKA named 35-year-old Russian national Oleg Evgenievich Nefedov as Black Basta’s founder and ringleader and placed him on Europol’s Most Wanted list and Interpol’s Red Notice.
- Ukrainian cyber police, working with German authorities, raided homes in the Ivano-Frankivsk and Lviv regions, identifying two suspects who handled initial access and password cracking and seizing devices and cryptocurrency.
- According to the BKA, Nefedov selected targets, recruited and tasked members, joined ransom negotiations, and managed proceeds distributed to the group.
- Investigators say Nefedov is believed to be in Russia and are seeking tips on his location, travel, and online accounts, promising anonymity to sources.
- Attribution draws on leaked internal chats analyzed by security researchers linking Nefedov to aliases such as Tramp, tr, GG, AA, kurva, Washingt0n, and S. Jimmi; Black Basta has been tied to roughly 600–700 incidents and more than $100 million in extortion since 2022, with activity reportedly waning after last year’s leaks.