Latvian Man Sentenced In Star Tribune Hacking Scheme

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Latvian man has been sentenced in Minneapolis to nearly three years in federal prison for his involvement in a hacking scheme that cost internet users millions of dollars.

Twenty-nine-year-old Peteris Sahurovs was sentenced Wednesday for conspiracy to commit wire fraud. After serving his prison term, a judge ruled that Sahurovs will be returned to Latvia.

Sahurovs was indicted in 2011 in a "scareware" scheme that targeted the Minneapolis Star Tribune's website.

The indictment says Sahurovs and an accomplice created a phony advertising agency and bought ads on startribune.com, then infected the computers of those who visited the site with malware. The affected users were then tricked into buying purported antivirus software.
The scheme generated more than $2 million. Sahurovs admitted he made between $150,000 and $250,000.

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