Becoming an ally

There may be thousands of more talented hackers out there, but Popov had something the FBI needed. While he was good with computers, he also had a knack for manipulating people. More importantly, he also had a gift for language, an ability that made him even more of an asset.

How his career began

Popov’s English was near fluent, and at the beginning, he had been able to cash out stolen credit card details. Retailers from the US had shipped goods to Popov using an innocent person’s hard-earned cash. This was good business until corporations also became wary of Eastern European shipping addresses. He then needed another way to make money.