A 35-year-old man from Ukraine’s Poltava region has been arrested for orchestrating a large-scale cryptojacking scheme, according to a June 4 statement by Ukraine’s National Police cyber division. Authorities say the suspect illegally accessed over 5,000 customer accounts of a global hosting company and used the compromised servers to secretly mine cryptocurrency.
Investigators revealed that the man had been exploiting security loopholes in multiple international companies since 2018. He allegedly installed unauthorized virtual machines and crypto mining software, draining resources without the owners’ knowledge. The operation reportedly caused over $4.4 million in damages to the affected hosting provider.
To stay under the radar, the suspect frequently relocated between cities, including Poltava, Odesa, Zaporizhia, and Dnipropetrovsk. When police raided his residence, they found a trove of evidence—laptops, mobile devices, bank cards, and credentials for email accounts used in his hacking operations. Investigators also uncovered crypto wallets and software tools tied to managing illicit mining activities.
Source: National Police of Ukraine
The man now faces serious charges for unlawfully interfering with electronic communication networks. If found guilty, he could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison and barred from working in IT or communications-related roles for three years. Authorities say the investigation is still active, with the possibility of further charges being added.
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