AfterDawn: Tech news

FBI hunts elusive malware author, offers $50k for information

Written by James Delahunty @ 10 Nov 2013 9:59

FBI hunts elusive malware author, offers $50k for information The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has identified a malware author as one of its most wanted, and is offering a reward up to $50,000 for information.
The FBI identifies the individual (pictured) as Carlos Enrique Perez-Melara. His alleged crime is authoring malicious software that he sold to customers to use to spy on people. At first, his spyware was called "Email PI" but changed its name to "Lover Spy" in summer 2003, sold to customers as a way to catch a cheating partner.

The Feds allege that the program would periodically send e-mail messages back to the purchasers of the service containing the acquired communications, including the victims' passwords, lists of visited websites, intercepted e-mail messages, and keystroke logs.

The malware was delivered to a victim by e-mail, posing as an electronic greeting card.

So what's the big deal? Of course, the use of such software and its marketing is illegal but isn't there more serious cybercrime to worry about than a piece of software that's over a decade old?



Well it would appear that Perez-Melara is coming under increased scrutiny because he is simply elusive. An arrest warrant was issued for the El Salvadoran on July 21, 2005, but in the eight years that have passed since, he has dropped completely off law enforcement radar.

The FBI is offering a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to the arrest of Carlos Enrique Perez-Melara.

More Info: FBI.gov

Previous Next  
Comments have been disabled for this article.

Latest news

Roomba Combo j7+ review - Clever trick allows robot vacuum finally to tackle home with rugs and carpets Roomba Combo j7+ review - Clever trick allows robot vacuum finally to tackle home with rugs and carpets (06 Jun 2023 9:19)
Roomba Combo j7+ is the very first Roomba model to combine robot vacuum with mopping features. And Roomba Combo j7+ does all that with a very clever trick, which tackles the problem with mopping and carpets. But is it any good? We found out.
Neato, the robot vacuum company, ends its operations Neato, the robot vacuum company, ends its operations (02 May 2023 3:38)
Neato Robotics has ceased its operations. American robot vacuum pioneer founded in 2005 has finally called it quits and company will cease its operations and sales. Only a skeleton crew will remain who will keep the servers running until 2028.
5 user comments
How to Send Messages to Yourself on WhatsApp How to Send Messages to Yourself on WhatsApp (20 Mar 2023 1:25)
The world's most popular messaging platform, Meta-owned WhatsApp has enabled sending messages to yourself. While at first, this might seem like an odd feature, it can be very useful in a lot of situations. ....
18 user comments
How to Enable Bluetooth on Stadia Controller How to Enable Bluetooth on Stadia Controller (11 Feb 2023 1:04)
Google shut down its streaming game service Stadia late last month and this means that some people have Stadia controllers lying around that seem to be of no use. That is fortunately not the ....
2 user comments
Guide: How to Kick Unwanted Guests from Your Netflix Account Guide: How to Kick Unwanted Guests from Your Netflix Account (26 Jan 2023 2:14)
Sharing a Netflix account with a person in a different location is possible and indeed very common, although the company doesn't necessarily enjoy this behavior from their customers. However, ....

News archive