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November 08, 2021 He was selling fake green passes online thanks to his computer skills and above all thanks to his connections with a group of Russian hackers. The police unmasked a student thanks to the report of a Genoese model who realized she was the victim of blackmail.
Within a few months, the young man had managed to collect 20 thousand euros, partly invested in cryptocurrencies and partly spent on latest generation hi-tech products, clothing and beauty products. His parents, unrelated to the facts, were shocked by the discovery of their son's illegal activities, whose entrepreneurial spirit they appreciated, in the belief that the money 'earned' was the proceeds from the sale of upgrades for online games.
It all begins when the model, eager to keep fit and substantially opposed to the vaccine, searches the net for the shortcut to go to the gym: a fake Green pass. So, as requested, she sends her documents and the sum requested, but the waiting for the coveted document is in vain and the young woman realizes that she has ended up in the trap of a stranger who, by threatening to report her, begins to blackmail her and demand more. money. Having overcome the understandable embarrassment and afraid of intimidation, the woman decides to report everything to the "Liguria" Postal and Communications Police Department in Genoa. And the complex investigations of the Financial Cybercrime section lead up to an apartment in Lazio.Where in the eyes of the police, however, he is not a seasoned criminal but an unsuspected student. According to what was reconstructed by the investigators, the young man, who directly managed the Telegram channels on which the counterfeit certificates were offered for sale, after receiving the user's request, communicated the data to the Russian hacker 'colleague' and the latter provided indications on how to proceed with the payment. In order to create a credible certificate, the criminal group required the sending of a copy of the identity documents which were then used to open online accounts, credit cards or accounts with the main e-commerce platforms or to carry out other crimes. The student to make his activity even more substantialbought so-called Bot applications capable of multiplying Telegram members with fake users. The investigation, directed by the Deputy Prosecutor of Genoa Federico Panichi, and coordinated by the Postal and Communications Police Service of Rome, is being investigated for any transnational developments.