A Turkish computer hacker and informant who'd been allegedly kidnapped and tortured by a notorious ATM swindler was arrested this week, according to a report from the Turkish press.
Turkish police arrested Mert Ortac on computer hacking charges on Tuesday, reports Haber 7. Ortac, known under the hacker handle Kier, is an associate of another Turkish hacker called Cha0, who allegedly abducted him earlier this year.
Ortac had been leaking information about Cha0 to Turkish reporters and police when he briefly disappeared last spring. He resurfaced in May, and described being kidnapped and beaten by Cha0 and his henchmen. A photo of Kier stripped down to his underwear and seated in a chair then appeared on the online crime forum DarkMarket, where Cha0 served as an administrator. In the image, Ortac is seen holding a sign that reads in part: "I am rat. I am pig. I am reporter. I am fucked by Cha0."
Cha0, identified as one Cagatay Evyapan, was arrested in September, shortly before DarkMarket was revealed as an FBI sting run out of an office in Pittsburgh.
Cha0 had specialized in selling a high-quality ATM skimmer and keypad that fraudsters can covertly affix to certain models of cash machines to collect magstripe data and PINs from unsuspecting customers. According to Haber 7, Ortac is accused of participating in the cash machine scheme.
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