Europol, together with the FBI and enforcement agencies from several European countries, took RaidForums off the air. The entire infrastructure was seized. The administrator and two of his accomplices were arrested.
So writes Europol in a press statement.
RaidForums is the largest hacker marketplace in the world, according to the European Investigation and Enforcement Agency. Launched in 2015, the platform has more than half a million users. RaidForums gained its notorious reputation by selling access to a number of high-profile database leaks from U.S. and British companies.
The databases contain a variety of personal data, including information on millions of credit cards, bank account numbers, usernames and passwords. Such data are worth gold to hackers and cybercriminals: they use the data, for example, to spam, swatting, phishing, carry out DDoS attacks or install ransomware on unsuspecting victims.
These datasets were obtained from cyber attacks carried out by hackers over the past few years, Europol knows.
This action-also known as Operation Tourniquet-was preceded by more than one year of investigation. Through international cooperation with investigative and enforcement agencies from Sweden, Romania, Portugal, Germany, the United Kingdom and the U.S., investigators were able to investigate and determine the roles of the main targets. RaidForums' domain names have been taken over by Europol. Anyone who now visits the sites will see a banner stating that the domain names have been seized.
According to the US Department of Justice, a 21-year-old Portuguese man is the founder and administrator of the hacker marketplace. He has been held in a British cell since Jan. 31, pending his extradition to the US.
"Disruption has always been a key technique in the fight against online threat actors. Focusing on for a that hides large amounts of stolen data keeps criminals on their toes," Edvardas Šileris, the head of Europol's Cybercrime Centre, told me. He says Europol will continue to work with its international partners to make cybercrime more difficult and risky.
It is the second illegal marketplace to be taken offline in a short time. Earlier this month, German police took Hydra Market off the air. Narcotics, forged documents, weapons and "digital services" were sold through the platform. Police seized 23.1 million euros worth of Bitcoins. The platform had some 17 million customers and more than 19,000 registered sellers.
In January 2021, German police took DarkMarket offline. Over 320,000 transactions were allegedly made through the platform, with more than 140 million euros of cryptocurrency spent. Last June, it was Slilpp's turn. More than eighty million stolen login credentials for bank accounts, online payment services, accounts for providers and retailers were traded through the platform.
