--- title: Data Recovery CEO Indicted for Allegedly Scamming... description: MonsterCloud CEO Zohar Pinhasi was indicted on federal charges for allegedly defrauding ransomware victims. Prosecutors say he told clients he could recover... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/data-recovery-ceo-indicted-for-allegedly-scamming-ransomware-victims-wkg7fedvb twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Data Recovery CEO Indicted for Allegedly Scamming Ransomware Victims | daily.dev og:description: MonsterCloud CEO Zohar Pinhasi was indicted on federal charges for allegedly defrauding ransomware victims. Prosecutors say he told clients he could recover... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/data-recovery-ceo-indicted-for-allegedly-scamming-ransomware-victims-wkg7fedvb og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/wKg7fEDvb.png og:image:alt: Data Recovery CEO Indicted for Allegedly Scamming Ransomware Victims og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Data Recovery CEO Indicted for Allegedly Scamming Ransomware Victims **[Hacker News](https://daily.dev/sources/hn)** · 5 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary MonsterCloud CEO Zohar Pinhasi was indicted on federal charges for allegedly defrauding ransomware victims. Prosecutors say he told clients he could recover encrypted files without paying hackers, but actually paid the ransoms and charged clients far more. Investigators found he allegedly charged clients over $19 million while paying out more than $8 million in ransoms. In one case, he paid an $8,200 ransom but billed the client about $150,000. He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted and has pleaded not guilty. The case echoes a 2019 ProPublica investigation that first exposed the scheme, which also noted former FBI deputy director John Pistole had promoted MonsterCloud. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### What did MonsterCloud CEO Zohar Pinhasi get indicted for? Zohar Pinhasi, CEO of ransomware data recovery firm MonsterCloud, was indicted on federal fraud charges for allegedly telling clients he could decrypt their files without paying hackers while secretly paying the ransoms and charging clients a steep markup. Investigators allege he charged clients over $19 million while paying out more than $8 million in ransoms, with one case involving an $8,200 ransom billed to the client as $150,000. He faces up to 20 years in prison and pleaded not guilty. _Teams vetting ransomware recovery vendors can follow how this fraud case unfolds on daily.dev._ ### Do ransomware data recovery companies actually decrypt files without paying the ransom? In most documented cases, no. Ransomware recovery firms often pay the ransom to hackers behind the scenes while telling clients they used proprietary decryption methods. John Pistole, former FBI deputy director, said he understood this was the business model at MonsterCloud despite its public claims otherwise, since paying hackers is typically the only way to recover data locked by ransomware. _Developers building incident response plans can track vendor transparency issues like this on daily.dev._ ## Community take How the wider developer community reacted, aggregated from 1 discussion and 10 comments across hackernews (as of 2026-10-27). **TL;DR:** The discussion centers mostly on background details of the accused (aliases, nationality, military history) and meta-debate over the story's headline wording, with a general undertone of distrust toward data-recovery/cybersecurity middlemen. **Sentiment:** 0% positive · 15% mixed · 85% skeptical **The pushback** - Some see this as emblematic of broader shady practices among smaller MSSPs, pentest shops, and other security 'channel' partners. - One commenter speculates the accused may flee given his dual nationality and aliases, implying skepticism he'll face consequences. **By community** - hackernews (skeptical): Much of the thread is sidetracked by headline-editing disputes, but the substantive comments express distrust toward the accused and the broader security-services industry. **Hottest debate:** Whether the submitted headline was appropriately edited versus the original and alternate titles from the source article. **Open questions** - Will the accused attempt to flee the country as suggested by one commenter? - How widespread is this kind of fraud among other cybersecurity/data-recovery firms? **Highlights** > This is why I've always been derisive about smaller MSSPs, Pentest shops, and other "channel" partners. Firms like MonsterCloud are just the tip of the iceberg. > — [alephnerd on hackernews](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50262615) > >Zohar Pinhasi, 50, also known as “Zack Silver” and “Zack Green,” a U.S. and Israeli national Will he be fleeing as is custom? > — [catigula on hackernews](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50263762) > Zohar Pinhasi, also known as “Zack Silver” and “Zack Green." https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/owner-florida-ransomwar... https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/media/1464771/dl?inline > — [toomuchtodo on hackernews · 1 comments](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50260996) > This is about a different person, but it's similar in spirit: "Feds suspect ransom negotiator ran ShinyHunters extortion site" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50173487 | 6 days ago | 158 comments > — [WalterGR on hackernews](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50263955) **Source threads** - [hackernews](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50260960) · 47 points · 10 comments ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Florida ransomware negotiator convicted for helping ransomware gang extort US companies](https://daily.dev/posts/florida-ransomware-negotiator-convicted-for-helping-ransomware-gang-extort-us-companies-32hdpvzug) · TechCrunch · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [US ransomware negotiators get 4 years in prison over BlackCat attacks](https://daily.dev/posts/us-ransomware-negotiators-get-4-years-in-prison-over-blackcat-attacks-0tuwsz4r0) · BleepingComputer · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Broker who sold malware to the FBI set for sentencing](https://daily.dev/posts/broker-who-sold-malware-to-the-fbi-set-for-sentencing-ddbecvllo) · The Register · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#cyber](https://daily.dev/tags/cyber), [#ransomware](https://daily.dev/tags/ransomware) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/data-recovery-ceo-indicted-for-allegedly-scamming-ransomware-victims-wkg7fedvb) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Data Recovery CEO Indicted for Allegedly Scamming Ransomware Victims","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/data-recovery-ceo-indicted-for-allegedly-scamming-ransomware-victims-wkg7fedvb","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/data-recovery-ceo-indicted-for-allegedly-scamming-ransomware-victims-wkg7fedvb"},"datePublished":"2026-10-27T17:01:12.136Z","dateModified":"2026-10-27T20:33:35.399Z","description":"MonsterCloud CEO Zohar Pinhasi was indicted on federal charges for allegedly defrauding ransomware victims. 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Investigators allege he charged clients over $19 million while paying out more than $8 million in ransoms, with one case involving an $8,200 ransom billed to the client as $150,000. He faces up to 20 years in prison and pleaded not guilty. Teams vetting ransomware recovery vendors can follow how this fraud case unfolds on daily.dev."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Do ransomware data recovery companies actually decrypt files without paying the ransom?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"In most documented cases, no. Ransomware recovery firms often pay the ransom to hackers behind the scenes while telling clients they used proprietary decryption methods. John Pistole, former FBI deputy director, said he understood this was the business model at MonsterCloud despite its public claims otherwise, since paying hackers is typically the only way to recover data locked by ransomware. 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