A Man Attempted a $750K Ransomware Extortion on His Former Employer in Somerset County

Somerset, NJ Man Attempted $750K Ransomware Extortion Against Former Employer

The man was arrested for his alleged crime, but the article doesn’t mention if anyone was injured.

The former employee of a Somerset County company is accused of trying to extort $750,000 from his former employer by threatening to unleash ransomware on the company’s computer systems.

The man was arrested in Somerset County on Tuesday, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Jersey. He was charged with one count of transmitting a ransom demand in interstate commerce.

The man, who was not named in the criminal complaint, was employed by the company as an IT specialist until 2021. The company is a provider of software and services to businesses in the healthcare industry.

According to the complaint, the man sent an email to the company on Monday, threatening to deploy ransomware on the company’s computer systems unless the company paid him $750,000 in Bitcoin.

The company contacted the FBI, which launched an investigation. The FBI was able to identify the man as the sender of the email and track him down to his home in Somerset County.

The FBI arrested the man on Tuesday and seized his computer and other electronic devices. The man was charged with one count of transmitting a ransom demand in interstate commerce.

If convicted, the man could face up to 20 years in prison.