A 24-year-old Chilean national has been extradited to the US over his alleged role in running a cybercrime operation that involved the trafficking of payment card data.
The suspect, Alex Rodrigo Valenzuela Monje, allegedly known online as VAL4K, was arraigned in Utah federal court on charges of trafficking in unauthorized access devices and unlawful transfer of means of identification to facilitate criminal conduct.
The charges stem from his alleged operation of an illicit online card shop selling stolen credit card data.
Valenzuela Monje is accused of running Telegram channels named MacacoCC Collective and Novato Carding from at least May 2021 to August 2023, where he sold dumps of compromised payment card information, including account numbers, card types, expiration dates, CVV/CVC codes, and cardholder names.
He allegedly sold cards for most major US brands, with data for approximately 26,000 cards from one brand alone.
Indicted by a Salt Lake City grand jury in August 2023, the alleged hacker faced a drawn-out extradition: Chile’s Supreme Court initially approved the US request in April 2025, but appeals pushed his arrest to January 2026.
Valenzuela Monje was transferred to US custody on February 25, 2026, and pleaded not guilty at his arraignment on February 26.
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