Paul J. McNulty, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, announced
that Myron Tereshchuk, 42, of Hyattsville, Maryland, pled guilty today to one count of attempting
to extort $17 million over the Internet. The maximum potential sentence is 20 years imprisonment
and a $250,000 fine. United States District Judge James C. Cacheris set sentencing for October
22, 2004.
For more than a year, the defendant harassed MicroPatent, an intellectual property firm that
produces and distributes patent and trademark information. The defendant sent MicroPatent’s
clients hundreds of emails, many of which were "spoofed" to resemble authentic MicroPatent
correspondence. The emails contained statements derogatory to MicroPatent, attached sexually
explicit patent applications, and disclosed MicroPatent documents that were believed to have been
confidential. The defendant obtained the confidential information by gaining unauthorized access
to MicroPatent’s computer network and by searching through the trash set out to be collected by a
shredding company at MicroPatent’s location in Alexandria, Virginia. The defendant sent emails
anonymously by using equipment from his automobile to gain unauthorized access to unsecured
wireless computer networks in residences and businesses in Maryland and Virginia. Once the
defendant had access to the networks, he often sent the emails using accounts of AOL customers
without their knowledge or authorization.
On February 3, 2004, the defendant began sending a series of extortionate emails to the
president of MicroPatent using the alias "Bryan Ryan" and a free Yahoo email account. To further
hide his identity, the defendant accessed the Yahoo account through unsecured wireless access
points and the unauthorized use of the University of Maryland computer network and students’
accounts. In the emails, the defendant demanded $17 million or he would disclose additional
MicroPatent proprietary information and launch distributed denial-of-service attacks against
intellectual property attorneys’ computer systems worldwide.
Based on one of the messages, the FBI believed the defendant might be the person
attempting the extortion. Thereafter, the FBI, with the assistance of Yahoo, AOL, and the
University of Maryland, was able to catch the defendant in the act of sending emails to the
president of MicroPatent. At the time of the defendant’s arrest at his automobile on March 10,
2003, he was in possession of his laptop, an antenna, and other computer equipment.
The FBI searched the defendant’s residence on March 10, 2004, and found not only
computers and other items related to the attempted extortion, but also the components for hand
grenades, the formula and items necessary for making Ricin, and literature about poisons. Those
matters remain under investigation by the FBI and the United States Attorney’s Office for the
District of Maryland.
United States Attorney Paul J. McNulty stated, "While the Internet has brought our
society many benefits, it is also being used by a wide variety of criminals. Some of these criminals
have the technical savvy to use new means to try to conceal their identities. This case is proof,
however, that law enforcement is keeping up with technological advances and will catch these
offenders."
The case was investigated by the FBI and was prosecuted by Assistant United States
Attorney Jack Hanly and Michael Stawasz, Trial Attorney, Computer Crime and Intellectual
Property Section, United States Department of Justice.
