Belarus Judges Schoolboy for Writing Code for Cybercriminal Gang

In Belarus, the trial of a young programmer accused of participating in a large-scale hacker operation has concluded. The group, consisting of approximately 700 individuals, used phishing sites to steal funds from bank cards.

The fraudsters operated through online scams, posing as legitimate sellers and encouraging victims to pay for goods through fake pages of popular retailers. By entering their card information to make a payment, users ultimately lost money from their accounts.

A significant role in this criminal scheme was played by a minor coder, a student at a Minsk school. Over the course of a year and a half, he developed software essential for maintaining and streamlining the cybercriminal activities. His actions were classified as theft of property through manipulation of computer data.

The prosecutor of the Partisan District of the capital reported that the young coder, as part of an organized group, managed to steal over 24,000 rubles from victims’ cards via phishing. Based on the evidence presented in court, the Partisan District Court of Minsk sentenced the young man to 5 years in a general penal colony. In addition to imprisonment, he was fined 2,000 rubles.