Overview
- German and partner agencies issued a wanted notice on January 15 for 35-year-old Oleg Evgenievich Nefedov.
- Prosecutors allege he founded and directed the ransomware operation, selecting targets, recruiting members and managing cryptocurrency proceeds.
- Investigators count more than 100 victims in Germany and roughly 600 abroad, with over €20 million extorted domestically and global losses in the high hundreds of millions.
- Recent searches in Ukraine targeted suspected members accused of password cracking and anti-detection work, with evidence seized in two homes and an earlier raid in August.
- Europol, Interpol and authorities from the Netherlands, Switzerland, Ukraine and the UK are involved, and tips are sought via BKA and Europol as his whereabouts remain unknown and thought to be in Russia.