MOSCOW, June 10 (RAPSI) – A court in Ufa, a city of Russia’s Republic of Bashkortostan, has sentenced four individuals to prison terms of up to 4.5 years for cybercrimes, the press service of the Prosecutor General’s Office has told RAPSI.

They have been found guilty of computer fraud and creation, using and dissemination of malicious software, the statement reads.

Thus, the criminal group leader was sentenced to 4.5 years behind bars and an 800,000-ruble fine (over $12,000). His accomplices received terms ranging from 4 years and 1 month to 4 years and 3 months with fines varying from 250,000 to 550,000 rubles.

According to prosecutors, between January 2016 and May 2017, day to day the defendants sent thousands of SMS-messages containing a link to a malicious program. When victims clicked through the link, their smartphones caught virus stealing money from their cards connected to mobile banking.

In total, they embezzled about 300,000 rubles from more than 40 people.