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Danil Potekhin

Danil Potekhin

ALIASES: Данил Потехин, “cronuswar”
DOB: N/A
NATIONALITY: Russia
CITIZENSHIP: Russia
HEIGHT: N/A
WEIGHT: N/A
HAIR COLOR: Brown/Red
EYE COLOR: Blue
U.S. SECRET SERVICE FIELD OFFICE: San Francisco

CASE SUMMARY

The indictment in this matter alleges that, beginning on or about June 2017 through on or about April 2018, Danil Potekhin and Dmitrii Vadimovich Karasavidi launched a sophisticated phishing campaign targeting users of multiple digital currency exchanges. Potekhin and Karasavidi purchased and deployed multiple web domains that appeared to be websites belonging to legitimate digital currency exchanges. However, when users logged into these fraudulent websites, Potekhin and Karasavidi were able to steal the users’ credentials, enabling the defendants to control the actual digital currency exchange accounts, withdraw some or all of the victims’ digital currency, and manipulate the market for digital currency. This tactic used a combination of phishing and spoofing to exploit users’ trust in known companies and organizations, with the ultimate purpose of fraudulently obtaining victim login credentials. The scheme resulted in losses of digital currencies valued at approximately $17 million.

The prosecution is being handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California. In addition to the criminal charges, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued sanctions against Potekhin and Karasavidi.

Relevant Links

The charges and allegations contained in the indictment are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

If you have information regarding this individual, please contact the U.S. Secret Service at MostWanted@usss.dhs.gov.