At  19th of October the 1st  Russia channel  aired  the TV show called  “Пусть говорят, Однажды в Америке” , dedicated to  Zeus trojan story. You all saw and heard about this FBI operation that brought some 38 people to the captivity. The talk show on the most
available and popular Russian public channel brought parents/relatives of the arrested
 suspects and the girl that by her words took part in this scam a year before.
The majority of the people in the studio clearly stated that these guys and gals are
 plain thieves (except their parents , understood) – a major progress I should say, over the years. The sum up of the main points comes next:
– Those are low rank droppers/mules;
– They didn’t have personal direct contact with any of the masterminds of the scam. All their communication was through ICQ/forums/ all things Internet
– For them it was just another way to earn the money. Sounds plausible as there were other youngsters at the same apartment that came through the same student exchange program and still choose NOT to get involved as had other income.
– All claim  that agreed to do it only because were in a dire financial situation. Also
probably true. Even tough according to the exchange program they all are provided with work on their arrival to the US. Also the girl in studio (Anna Savenko [Анна Савенко]) noted that she agreed to be a scammer after she was fired from the work.
– All of them were recruited into this by people already in the business and were told the same story of ” Many American companies try to lower their taxes by transferring money to people like her ” . Lame story for those willing to believe and feel good about themselves.
– They were encouraged by the absence of the minimal vigilance by the US banks. Anna recalled that she opened the account (with fake passport) and when she came to the bank
to withdraw the money, the clerk asked her where she was expecting money from , and she could only say “Don’t know” and still was given the cash.
– Russia as a state pretty much doesn’t give a heck about those citizens in jail – pro bono
 advocates is their way to go (if they only were spies …)
if your Russian is good enough try searching the Net for “”Пусть говорят, Однажды в Америке SATRIP” and you will get the show recording in full.
Link to the show forum , just in case: forum.1tv.ru