Cyprus, after amending its constitution in 2013, extradited for the first time to the United States of America, a Cypriot hacker wanted for fraud and blackmail.
The United States Department of Justice had requested extradition from the Republic of Cyprus two εγκληματιών που βρέθηκαν στο έδαφος της Κύπρου. Ο ένας κατηγορείται ως hacker υπολογιστών και είναι ύποπτος για εισβολές και εκβιασμούς στο internet και ο άλλος κατηγορείται για ξέπλυμα χρήματος με διασυνδέσεις με την τρομοκρατική οργάνωση Χεζμπολάχ.
Both suspects, Nicosia resident Joshua Polloso Epifaniou, 21, and Lebanese Gassan Diant, 37, were arrested in Cyprus in recent years and extradited to the United States last weekend.
According to the indictment, ο Επιφανίου πραγματοποίησε μια επίθεση brute force εναντίον της διαδικτυακής πύλης Ripoff Report (ROR) τον Οκτώβριο του 2016 και αντικατέστησε το κωδικό ενός υπάρχοντος λογαριασμού υπαλλήλου της ROR, με αποτέλεσμα να αποκτήσει access in its database.
The Ripoff Report site allows users over the age of 14 to complain anonymously about any company or individual. The site requires the creation of an account before submitting the "reports", but does not verify the identity of the users. Her reports Ripoff Report may appear in Google searches for individuals (or companies) listed in the protests, which can be potentially annoying or damaging to them.
In November 2016, Epifaniou attempted to blackmail the company by sending an email to ROR's CEO with a link to a video which proved the unauthorized access of Epiphanius to the account of the CEO of ROR. He demanded $90.000 within 48 hours not to publicly share the stolen ROR data.
From October 2016 to May 2017, Epifaniou also partnered with an SEO Company partner to illegally remove complaints posted on the ROR website on behalf of those interested and willing to pay around 3.000 to 5.000 dollars,
According to court documents, Epifaniou and his associate removed at least 100 complaints from the ROR database on behalf of their "clients".
Apart from ROR, Epifaniou has also been accused of violating and blackmailing various websites, between October 2014 and November 2016.
Epifaniou allegedly violated the websites and collected $ 56.850 in bitcoin, while the victims suffered losses of more than $ 530.000 for the restoration costs associated with the incidents.
Epifaniou is the first Cypriot citizen to be extradited from Cyprus to the United States. Cyprus amended its Constitution in 2013 to allow the extradition of Cypriot nationals to a European country or a third country on the basis of a European arrest warrant or on the basis of a bilateral or multilateral treaty. In 2003, the United States and the European Union they entered into an extradition agreement.
Also, a Lebanese national named Ghassan Diab, 37, was extradited from Cyprus to Florida on Friday as he is wanted by the US Department of Justice for being a member of Hezbollah, a militant group based in Lebanon, and for money laundering from drugs.
