Asia

Thai Police Reportedly Detain Russian National Suspected of Cybercrimes

BANGKOK (Sputnik) - Thailand's police have detained a Russian national upon the request of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on the grounds that the security service suspects him of hacking activities and the use of cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, for illegal trade, local media reported Friday.
Sputnik

According to the Bangkok Post newspaper, Thai police detained Sergei Medvedev suspected of being one of the leading members of an international group responsible for cybercrimes, such as fraud activities, and selling drugs and weapons.

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The media outlet added, citing a source, that Medvedev was engaged in selling illegal products with the use of Bitcoin and possessed over 100,000 bitcoins when he was detained during the special operation on February 2.

According to the newspaper, the criminal group used a website dubbed Infraud with the motto "In Fraud We Trust" to trade stolen credit card and personal identity information and fake documents among other issues.

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Representatives of the Russian Embassy in Thailand told Sputnik that local police had not officially informed the diplomatic mission about the detention of the Russian citizen.

Medvedev's case is the latest in the string of detentions of Russian nationals abroad. On February 2, Spain extradited Russian programmer Petr Levashov to the US after he had been detained while on vacation by Spanish authorities at the request of the American side. Levashov is accused of creating malicious software and mailing of spam.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday that Russian citizens being arrested in third countries from US warrants grows, adding that Moscow demands that Washington stop "hunting" for Russian nationals.

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