Georgia extradited to the US a Russian national facing up to 175 years in prison for cyber fraud
Kyiv • UNN
The Russian national extradited from Georgia is accused of a large-scale phishing scheme targeting US bank customers. He faces up to 175\r\nyears in prison.
The Russian citizen extradited from Georgia to the United States faces up to 175 years in prison for organizing a large-scale cyberfraud scheme. Thirty-six-year-old web developer Sergei Filimonov appeared before the federal court for the Northern District of Georgia on charges of hacking Americans' bank accounts, UNN reports, citing "Georgia News."
Details
The indictment against the hacker was issued back in November 2025. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Filimonov and his accomplices created a network of counterfeit websites (phishing pages) that imitated the web resources of major U.S. banks. The perpetrators purchased search-engine advertising to redirect customers to fake login forms, where they entered their usernames and passwords.
After gaining access to the accounts, the cybercriminals checked balances and stole millions of dollars through authorized bank transfers. The victims included both individuals and companies registered in the state of Georgia.
Investigators believe that Filimonov was responsible for developing and maintaining the entire technical infrastructure. He created an interactive database containing more than 5,000 stolen accounts, as well as software for intercepting two-factor authentication data.
As part of the investigation, the U.S. Department of Justice has already seized the domain used as a control server for collecting data.
It is noted that the Russian man's extradition became possible thanks to a joint operation involving the U.S. Department of Justice, the FBI, the Prosecutor General's Office of Georgia, Georgia's Central Criminal Police Department, and Estonian law enforcement agencies.
The American side does not specify exactly when Filimonov was brought to the United States from Georgia. Tbilisi had not previously released information about the detention of the wanted man.
The Russian national has been charged with, among other offenses, conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud, access-device fraud, and aggravated identity theft.