Facebook hacker not living in NZ - police

Facebook users are among targets of cyber crime. Photo / Herald on Sunday

A Russian hacker adopted a Kiwi girl's persona in underground forums where he offered for sale more than a million Facebook passwords - but an investigation has found does not live here, say police.

Many New Zealanders are feared to have been caught up in the latest scam.

At least one New Zealander had his details listed on a hackers' forum in February when Kirllos put 100,000 accounts up for sale.

NetSafe New Zealand executive director Martin Cocker has warned Facebook users against messages from friends telling them to "check out a link", as this could be from a hacked account.

By following the link, hackers can install software and gather information to access bank accounts, Mr Cocker said.

Detective Senior Sergeant John van den Heuvel, of the National Cyber Crime Centre, said today that reports the hacker lived in New Zealand were wrong.

"'Kirllos' has been traced back to Saransk, Russia. The only connection between him and New Zealand is that he changed his underground forum profile to that of a female from New Zealand," Mr van den Heuvel said.

It was reported that 'Kirllos' offered the user names and passwords of 1.5 million Facebook users for between $35 and $62.70 per 1000 accounts and he did this via an underground online forum.

The New York Times reported that the login details of as many as 700,000 Facebook accounts had already been sold.

"He is still in Russia and there is no information to suggest he has ever been to New Zealand. Russian Police are now investigating," Mr van den Heuvel said.

"We have been in touch with Facebook's Security team who also believe the hacker has never been based in New Zealand."

The NC3 investigation into 'Kirllos' had now concluded, he said.