Nigerian Microsoft engineer arrested on cyber theft charge

April 17, 2018 11:53 PM

Florida investigators disclosed that the suspect would infect victims with the Reveton ransomware, while Uadiale would collect payments and send the cash to him in the UK.

Another Nigerian man has been arrested overseas for

The accused, Raymond Uadiale, who is a Microsoft Engineer, is reportedly facing FBI charges for helping launder cash obtained from victims of the Reveton ransomware in Florida.

The 41-year-old is reported to have worked for Vole in Seattle since 2014.

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PCWorld reports that between October 2012 and March 2013, Uadiale allegedly worked with a UK citizen, under the online alias of K!NG.

Florida investigators disclosed that the suspect would infect victims with the Reveton ransomware, while Uadiale would collect payments and send the cash to him in the UK.

K!NG also allegedly deposited victims’ GreenDot MoneyPak payments into debit cards which Uadiale reportedly acquired under the fake name of Mike Roland.

According to the charges, Uadiale has laundered over $130,000.

He later converted these funds into the Liberty Reserve digital currency before sending the proceeds to his partner in the UK. Uadiale got to keep 30% of the funds as part of his cut.

According to the reports, if found guilty on the charges levelled against him, Uadiale faces a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $500,000, and up to three years of supervised release.

For now, Uadiale has been released on bail in form of a $100,000 bond.

The Reveton Ransomware

According to PCWorld, Reveton Ransomware is one of the first screen-locking ransomware strains.

Reveton operators reportedly ask victims to buy GreenDot MoneyPak vouchers and use the code on the voucher by entering it into the Reveton screen locker.

Once a computer is infected with Reveton ransomware, the screen would lock and a fake message from the FBI or other law enforcement agency would pop up, claiming that the user had violated a federal law.

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Watching and or distributing porn is reportedly cited as the law which has been violated. The user would then be informed that a fine was to be paid to unlock their PC.

Back in August 2012, the FBI reportedly regarded Reveton ransomware as “new”.

The use of the FBI logo made the ransomware so popular that some people referred to it as FBI ransomware.