This famous hacker wanted in the USA for the biggest data theft in the country’s history says FBI Director Christopher Ray’s threat that hackers hiding in Russia will face “the long arm of the law” has no teeth.

Sergei Pavlovich, 38, who is now a legitimate businessman and influencer with over 1.2 million subscribers on social media platforms, spoke to Newsflash in an exclusive interview, and he said that the fact he is still a wanted man in the United States was “unfair” because he has already done his time in prison in Belarus.

The famous hacker, who is also the author of a book titled ‘How to Steal a Million’, made international headlines when he was briefly detained in Russia’s cultural capital Saint Petersburg on an Interpol warrant at the beginning of the month.

The reformed carder and Belarusian citizen added: “Now we are trying to prove to the American prosecutor’s office by my sentencing orders from the Belarusian court that I was fully punished for the actions of which the US government accuses me.”

Pavlovich said: “My lawyer Igor Litvak is in touch with the American prosecutors, and now we are all waiting for the Belarusian court to provide me with copies of the verdicts.”

He confirmed to Newsflash that he was indeed still wanted in the United States, saying: “Yes, despite the fact that I spent 10 years in a Belarusian prison for American crimes too.”

Pavlovich explained that the last time he committed a crime was in 2008, adding that he was now a social media influencer with over 1.2 million subscribers. He also said that he was a “legal businessman with official companies and 14 projects in IT and media”.

The entrepreneur said that he had become a carder – a person who specialises in stealing credit card information – when he was just a teenager, growing up in abject poverty in the ex-Soviet Union.

He said: “My family, like most families in ex-USSR countries, was very, very poor. And this is one of the key reasons why good, young boys step into crime.”

He added: “I am familiar with lots of hackers, carders and other cyber criminals, and ask about it to the guests of my YouTube channel too.”

He said that “most Russian-speaking cyber criminals have only one parent” and added that his part of the world had been devoid of cheap credit, government-backed venture funds and start-up accelerators for talented young people.

Pavlovich said: “Now, when I run a legal business, I also often suffer from hackers, carders and people who arrange DDoS attacks. And the authorities of the United States and other developed countries have long perceived hackers and carders as ordinary criminals, while residents of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and other countries perceive hackers almost as Robin Hoods, but we are still ordinary criminals.”

He said that there were no hackers who he looked up to for inspiration, adding: “I am inspired by world-famous businessmen now.”

Discussing the recent comments made by FBI director Christopher Ray, who threatened hackers hiding in Russia with “the long arm of the law”, Pavlovich said: “America and Europe can only arrest Russian hackers outside of Russia.

“Therefore, I am sure that nothing will happen to our hackers, due to the fact that they do not steal from Russian citizens and companies, and accordingly, the Russian authorities have nothing to punish them for, and there is no agreement on the extradition of criminals between Russia and the United States. Vicious circle.”