Former MN Man Sentenced for Dark Web Identity Theft Scheme

Minneapolis, MN (MinnesotaNow) - A former Minnesota man has been sentenced for a federal identity theft conviction.

The Office of the U.S. Attorney in Minnesota says 30-year-old Andrew Shenkoski, who now has a Michigan address, was accused of purchasing nearly 2,500 stolen login credentials from a dark web marketplace that has since been shut down by the FBI. He was accused of using the information to make fraudulent transactions and offering some of the stolen credentials for sale on other cybercriminal internet sites.

Stolen Login Credentials Purchased on Dark Web

Court documents indicate Genesis Market compiled hundreds of thousands of stolen login credentials that included cell phone numbers, account numbers, email addresses, usernames, and passwords from malware-infected computers worldwide. The stolen information was then offered for sale on the dark web.

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Fraudulent Transactions Alleged

It was alleged that Shenkoski was able to purchase an account on the online marketplace using a cryptocurrency account that he created using the name of one of his victims. After purchasing the stolen login credentials, Shenkoski was accused of committing multiple crimes, including an unauthorized withdrawal of funds from a victim's bank account and attempting to withdraw money from other victims' accounts.

Federal Prison Sentence

Federal prosecutors say Shenkoski has been sentenced to five years in prison followed by two years of supervised release for committing wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.

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