A notorious hacker who held companies hostage for millions while mocking the FBI's efforts to catch him has been unmasked as a teenager, who frequently posted his high-flying escapades flashing cash and staying in luxury hotels, according to prosecutors.
Arrest and Charges
Peter Stokes, 19, was arrested on April 10 in Finland boarding a plane to Tokyo, according to a criminal complaint obtained by the Chicago Tribune. Stokes, who is also known by his online moniker Bouquet, has been a prolific member of Scattered Spider, a notorious international cybercriminal group since he was 16, the filing noted. The teenager was charged with wire fraud, conspiracy, and computer intrusion after participating in at least four online heists.
Lavish Lifestyle and Taunts
According to the complaint, Stokes 'exhibited substantial wealth for a person his age.' The teen allegedly flaunted his lifestyle of staying in luxury hotels while traveling the world, as well as posing with stacks of 100 bills, commonly known as a money spread. The filing noted that Stokes posted his travels to countries such as Mexico, Dubai, Thailand, and the continent of Europe. The filing also noted that Stokes is a dual citizen of the United States and Estonia.
Officials alleged that the teen taunted the FBI for not being able to catch him as he posted photos of himself in a gaudy diamond chain that read 'HACK THE PLANET.' Stokes allegedly flaunted his criminal behavior online, posted photos of himself in the chain, and uploaded a meme of himself and his fellow hackers as members of the classic series Sopranos. Stokes allegedly labeled himself, Carmine Lupertazzi Sr., the boss of a fictional New York crime family.
The complaint claimed that Stokes had a screenshot on his computer in 2024 of a failed password login screen that read 'F*** off, FBI.'
Cybercrimes Committed
In March of 2023, the suspect allegedly participated in infiltrating an online-communication platform identified only as 'Company H,' according to the complaint. Investigators discovered that encrypted messages between Stokes and a co-conspirator depicted language such as 'bro' and 'lmfao'. According to the filing, the teenager messaged the collaborator: 'u have 30 mins before i kick u off btw. [sic]' 'i gtg to school.'
Additionally, the filing cited by the outlet noted that Stokes cost an organization identified as 'Company F' $2 million. Stokes allegedly participated in four cybercrimes starting when he was only 16 years old, according to the filing. The teenager and his co-conspirators allegedly gained access to a multibillion-dollar 'luxury item retailer' by fooling the organization's technology help desk into believing they were employees, according to the complaint.
After gaining access, Stokes allegedly sent a ransom note to the company. The note sent by email had the subject 'IMPORTANT: WE STOLE THE DATA, CONTACT UMMEDIATELY [sic],' according to the filing. 'In the email, the threat actors claimed they had stolen 100 gigabytes of data, including … credit card and related payment information, and threatened to publish the data unless Company F contacted them at a specified email address for negotiations,' the message allegedly read. The hackers were accused of demanding $8 million from Company F, which the organization did not pay. However, the filing noted that the incident forced the company to spend $2 million to manage the situation.
Scattered Spider Group
According to the Tribune, Scattered Spider is primarily composed of teenagers and young adults, having been established in 2022 in the US and England.
