Member of notorious hacker group arrested in Finland indicted in the US

The judiciary in Chicago has indicted a 19-year-old member of the notorious hacker group “Scattered Spider” after Peter S., known as “Bouquet,” was recently arrested in Finland. The US is demanding the extradition of the teenager, who holds dual US and Estonian citizenship. The 19-year-old is accused of involvement in various ransomware extortion schemes that have cost large companies millions of US dollars, as reported by a US daily newspaper.

The cybercrime collective “Scattered Spider” consists of a loose group of British and US hackers who primarily use “social engineering” to gain access to closed networks, then exfiltrate data and finally extort the organizations. The group gained notoriety in 2023 through the casino attacks on MGM and Caesars. This was followed by data theft from the US subsidiary of Allianz Insurance. Last year, the group was attributed with a cyberattack on Marks & Spencer and the IT attack on Jaguar Land Rover.

Hacker career began at 16

However, the suspected teenager was also involved in numerous other cyberattacks, writes the Chicago Tribune, which has access to the indictment documents. According to the report, Bouquet was involved in at least four major operations by the hacker group, which led to ransom payments of millions by the extorted companies. This includes an attack on an unnamed online communication platform in March 2023, when Peter S. was only 16 years old.

In May 2025, Bouquet allegedly supported a cyberattack on an unnamed billionaire “luxury goods retailer.” In this attack, the perpetrators posed as employees on the phone with the IT helpdesk to reset login credentials. This gave them access to system administrator accounts and allowed them to exfiltrate data. In the subsequent extortion attempt, the group demanded $8 million, claiming to have stolen 100 gigabytes of data. The company, referred to only as “Company F.,” eventually broke off the weeks-long negotiations and did not pay the ransom, but the cyberattack still cost the retailer more than $2 million due to operational disruptions and system remediation, according to the indictment.

Arrested after a lavish lifestyle

Investigators likely tracked down the suspect due to his extravagant lifestyle, which, according to the newspaper, led him from Dubai via Thailand and Mexico to New York, where he stayed in luxury hotels and displayed credit cards, banknotes, and jewelry. This is said to be visible in pictures he allegedly posted on Facebook and Snapchat. On April 10, the now 19-year-old Peter S. was arrested at Helsinki Airport.

Bouquet is not the first member of “Scattered Spider” (also known as “Octo Tempest,” “Starfraud,” and “UNC3944”) to be arrested. Earlier this month, 24-year-old Tyler Robert B., a British citizen and reportedly one of the leading members of the hacker group, pleaded guilty in California to conducting phishing attacks on US companies via text messages and stealing at least $8 million in total from various individuals.

(fds)