Until we have the death penalty for these scum, expect more of the same. You think Putin doesn't get a cut? Internet crooks craft creative counterfeiting scam By JORDAN ROBERTSON (AP) â 5 hours ago SAN FRANCISCO â Think of it as one more reason not to write checks. Hackers believed to be operating out of Russia have figured out a high-tech way to carry out the decidedly low-tech crime of check fraud, a computer security company says â writing at least $9 million in fakes against more than 1,200 legitimate accounts. But these hackers got the account information in an unusual way: They broke into three websites that specialize in a little-known type of business â archiving check images online. Check counterfeiting is a crime that savvy Internet criminals usually pass up. After all, it's far easier for them to make money by stealing credit cards and online banking passwords.