FBI posts $50,000 reward for 'Lover Spy' malware writer
The FBI has offered large rewards for information that could help them catch a clutch of alleged cybercriminals, including an El Salvadoran national accused of selling a Trojan designed to spy on husbands or wives believed by their spouses to be cheating on them.
The details published on the FBI website covers all types of cybercrime, including database theft and hacking, telecom fraud, and malware scams. But it is the curious tale of Carlos Enrique Perez-Melara that offers the most more unusual case.
The FBI has been after Perez-Melara since 2005 when a warrant was issued for his arrest in connection with the "Lover Spy" spyware program designed to "catch a cheating lover" that was distributed to victims as an electronic greetings card. It's not known whether the suspect is still in the U.S., but the FBI accuses him of selling his program to 1000 customers who then used it to infect possibly several thousand others as part of his San Diego-based business.
