Madison, Finland – A 19‑year‑old American‑Estonian dual‑citizen, Peter Stokes, was arrested on Monday after an Interpol Red Notice flagged him for alleged involvement in the Scattered Spider hacking ring. The United States Department of Justice says the suspect was extradited to the United States where he faces charges of computer intrusion, conspiracy and fraud stemming from years of work by the gang.
Scattered Spider is implicated in more than $100 million of ransom payments worldwide, including a 2024 cyber‑attack on London’s Transport for London that the National Crime Agency traced back to the gang. Two other young men have already pleaded guilty to related offences involving the same organization.
According to the DOJ complaint, Stokes and collaborators demanded an $8 million payment in cryptocurrency from a luxury jewellery retailer after a data breach, but the victim refused to pay. The company suffered a $2 million loss due to business interruption and the cost of thwarting the threat, the brief states.
FBI teams in Copenhagen and Chicago and Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation carried out the operation. Law‑enforcement agencies say the group is composed of English‑speaking youths from the United States and the United Kingdom.
