Data Recovery CEO Charged With Scamming Ransomware Victims He Was Supposed to Save
Data Recovery CEO Indicted for Allegedly Scamming Ransomware Victims
Zohar Pinhasi, who ran the Florida data recovery firm MonsterCloud under the alias Zack Green, has been indicted on federal charges that he told ransomware victims he could recover their files without paying hackers, then secretly paid the ransom and billed clients a steep markup. Prosecutors say he collected over $19 million while paying out more than $8 million in ransoms; in one case he paid roughly $8,200 and charged the client about $150,000. He pleaded not guilty and faces up to 20 years.
By falsely claiming to decrypt ransomware without paying off the ransomers, the defendant re-victimized his clients while extracting a hefty profit for himself.