Bulgarian police announced Nov. 8 that they have arrested Alexander Zhukov, a Russian national and suspected cybercriminal, on behalf of the United States. Zhukov was arrested after being indicted in U.S. courts on charges of electronic fraud and a conspiracy to commit computer fraud, according to a release from the District Court of Varna in Bulgaria. Zhukov is specifically accused of something called affiliate fraud, which involves fraudulently inflating internet traffic to a site with the intention of defrauding marketers and advertisers by charging them to advertise to fake website visitors. He is accused of causing more than $7 million in damages and faces a potential 20 years in prison. Zhukov is being held in Bulgaria pending extradition hearings. The Department of Justice said it “does not comment on extradition-related matters until a defendant is in the United States.” The United States and Bulgaria do have a bilateral extradition agreement.
