Oleksandr Didenko confirmed

According to court documents, Didenko ran a website using a U.S.-based domain, "Upworksell.com," designed to help overseas IT workers buy or rent stolen identities. Beginning in 2021, the IT workers used the identities to get hired on online freelance work platforms based in California and Pennsylvania. The work platforms allowed users to advertise themselves as contract gig workers, create free accounts, advertise their skills and bid on IT work contracts. Didenko paid individuals in the United States to receive and host computers at residences in Virginia, Tennessee and California. Through his company, Didenko managed as many as 871 proxy identities and facilitated the operation of at least three U.S.-based “laptop farms.” He enabled his overseas clients to access the U.S. financial system through Money Service Transmitters rather than having to physically open an account at a bank within the United States, which was then used to facilitate the transfer of employment income to foreign bank accounts. The IT worker clients were paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for their work, much of which was falsely reported to the Department of Homeland Security, the IRS and Social Security Administration in the names of actual U.S. persons whose identities had been stolen. On May 16, 2024, the Justice Department seized the online domain, Upworksell.com, and diverted all traffic to the FBI. Polish authorities arrested Didenko and on Dec. 31, 2024, extradited him to the United States.