Teen Collected Card Details and Crypto Wallets: Interior Ministry Detains 17-Year-Old “Hacker”

Reform.news Editorial Team · 3 December 2025, 15:07

https://reform.news/en/teen-collected-card-details-and-crypto-wallets-interior-ministry-detains-17-year-old-hacker/

The Interior Ministry reported the detention of a 16-year-old resident of Brest suspected of using malicious software.

The ministry said that the college student distributed a program through a phishing website styled as a housing-booking service. The site misled users and enabled the launch of a virus on their devices. This provided unauthorized access to computer systems and allowed the copying of confidential information, including data on cryptocurrency wallets, bank-card details, and account and personal information.

He then sold the obtained data on the dark web. According to preliminary estimates, he managed to steal data from more than a thousand citizens of CIS and European countries.

A criminal case has been opened on charges of developing, using, distributing, or selling malicious computer programs.