Former Minnesota Man Charged in Dark Web ID Theft Case

Minneapolis, MN (KROC-AM News) - A former Minnesota man has been indicted by a federal grand jury on identity theft and other related charges.

The office of the US Attorney for Minnesota says 29-year-old Andrew Shenkosky, who now lives in Michigan, is accused of devising and executing a scheme to defraud and obtain money through false pretenses while he was living in Minnesota. The indictment alleges that he purchased and accessed stolen account information through an illicit online marketplace found on the "dark web."

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A news release says the Genesis Market was eventually taken down by the FBI. Investigators say the illicit marketplace compiled hundreds of thousands of stolen login credentials that included cell phone numbers, email addresses, usernames, and passwords procured from malware infected computers worldwide.

According to court documents, Shendowsky purchased nearly 2500 stolen credentials through Genesis Market. Among the crimes listed in the indictment is an allegation that Stenkowsky used the stolen data to make an unauthorized withdrawal from a victim's bank account and transfer the funds to a PayPal account under his control. He is also accused of offering the sell some of the stolen account data on another cybercriminal forum.

Stenkowsky is charged with three counts of wire fraud, one count of aggravated identity theft, one count of possession of unauthorized access devices, and one count of trafficking computer access information. He is scheduled to be formally arraigned on the charges in Minnesota next week.

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