American Teen Finally Booked For Being Most Notorious Cyber Hacker Under FBI’s Radar For Years

A 19-year-old teenager known for enjoying a suspiciously luxurious lifestyle has been arrested in Finland after being identified as the most notorious cyber hacker. The suspect had been under the radar of the FBI for years and had been a member of an infamous international cybercriminal group.

The suspect was on his way to board a flight from Finland to Tokyo when he was apprehended and later arrested. He has been charged with wire fraud, conspiracy and computer intrusion after having taken part in four heists online.

Peter Stokes, popularly known by his online moniker Bouquet, became involved in cyber fraud at age 16. It was around that time that he joined the cybercrime group known as Scattered Spider. Over the years, he became one of the most prolific figures in the group.

Despite the criminal side of his life, Stokes has seemingly led a double life as a regular American teen displaying substantial wealth. In fact, the court complaint against him notes that the teenager “exhibited substantial wealth for a person his age.”

He openly flaunted stays at a number of luxury hotels as he traveled across the world. Stokes even posed with stacks of $100 bills during trips to countries such as Mexico, Dubai, Thailand, and different parts of Europe. He allegedly holds dual citizenship in the United States and Estonia.

Stokes had been under FBI scrutiny for some time. He reportedly mocked the agency’s inability to catch him by posting a photo of himself wearing a diamond chain. The jewelry carried the message “Hack The Planet.”

In another instance, the teenager posted a photo of his computer screen showing a failed password login message. It read “F*** off FBI.” Besides this, he continued to share numerous memes highlighting his presence as a hacker. Stokes reportedly once compared himself to the fictional character Carmine Lupertazzi Sr. from The Sopranos.

One of Stokes’ most notorious criminal heists dates to a time when he cost a company about $2 million. Prosecutors identified the organization as “Company F,” which was a luxury goods retailer. The teen, along with his co-conspirators, reportedly fooled the company’s IT help desk into believing they were staff members.

They then gained access to the company’s internal software, after which they sent a ransom note to company officials. An email with the subject line “IMPORTANT: WE STOLE THE DATA, CONTACT IMMEDIATELY” stated that Stokes and his colleagues had stolen a large amount of data from the company's database. The data allegedly included credit card numbers and other payout credentials. They threatened to leak all of it unless the company contacted them at a separate email address for negotiations.

Stokes and the other hackers ultimately demanded $8 million from the company as ransom. But the organization did not pay. The court filing against Stokes reveals that the company ended up spending close to $2 million to get a handle on things and manage the situation.