Ottawa man arrested after 23-month cybercrime investigation

A 31-year-old Ottawa man is facing fraud and cybercrime-related charges after a nearly two-year-long Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) investigation.

The OPP was contacted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in January of 2020, regarding ransomware attacks that were based in Canada. 

The OPP Cyber Operations Section, under the direction of the OPP Criminal Investigation Branch, launched a parallel investigation with the help of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's (RCMP) National Cybercrime Coordination Unit (NC3) and Europol. 

During the course of the investigation, OPP investigators determined one person was responsible for numerous ransomware attacks affecting businesses, government agencies and private individuals throughout Canada as well as cyber-related offenses in the United States.

A number of items were seized by police and were held for investigation, including desktop and laptop computers, a tablet, several hard drives, cellphones, a Bitcoin seed phrase and blank cards with magnetic stripes.

Matthew Philbert has been charged with:

• Possession of device to obtain unauthorized use of a computer system or to commit mischief, contrary to section 342.2(1) of the Criminal Code of Canada;
• Fraud, contrary to section 380 (1) of the Criminal Code; and,
• Unauthorized use of computer, contrary to section 342.1(1) of the Criminal Code.

The accused was held in custody pending further appearances at the Ontario Court of Justice in Ottawa.

The OPP says cybercrime has been increasing exponentially in recent years, causing harm and immense financial losses to individual and businesses that are victimized. These events also jeopardize patient care and threaten the public's trust and confidence in their institutions and infrastructure. 

Since 2019, the OPP has seen a 140 per cent increase in reports of these types of offences.

The OPP and its partners encourage everyone including businesses, government organizations and agencies to report any unauthorized use of or access to computer systems to your police service of jurisdiction.