cybercrime
Police dismantles HeartSender cybercrime marketplace network
Law enforcement authorities in the United States and the Netherlands have seized 39 domains and associated servers used by the HeartSender phishing gang operating out of Pakistan. Also known as Saim Raza and Manipulators Team, the group has operated online cybercrime marketplaces for over a decade, selling hacking and fraud-enabling tools like phishing kits, malware, and spamming […]
KuCoin to pay nearly $300 million in penalties after guilty plea
KuCoin’s operator, PEKEN Global Limited, pleaded guilty to operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business and agreed to pay $297 million in penalties to settle charges in the U.S. The cryptocurrency exchange was charged in March 2024 for its failure to implement the required anti-money laundering (AML) requirements, allowing cybercriminals to use the platform to launder their proceeds. According […]
Police seizes Cracked and Nulled hacking forum servers, arrests suspects
Europol and German law enforcement confirmed the arrest of two suspects and the seizure of 17 servers in Operation Talent, which took down Cracked and Nulled, two of the largest hacking forums with over 10 million users. Even though some of their members are also engaged in ethical hacking discussions, these hacking forums are best […]
FBI seizes Cracked.io, Nulled.to hacking forums in Operation Talent
Update January 29, 14:15 EST: Seizure banners were added to the cracked[.] io, nulled [.] to, starkrdp [.] io, mysellix [.] io, and sellix [.] io, confirming that the domains had been seized in a joint law enforcement action dubbed “Operation Talent” that included authorities from the United States, Italy, Spain, Europe, France, Greece, Australia, and […]
Hacker infects 18,000 “script kiddies” with fake malware builder
A threat actor targeted low-skilled hackers, known as “script kiddies,” with a fake malware builder that secretly infected them with a backdoor to steal data and take over computers. Security researchers at CloudSEK report that the malware infected 18,459 devices globally, most located in Russia, the United States, India, Ukraine, and Turkey. “A trojanized version […]
Telegram hands over data on thousands of users to US law enforcement
Telegram reveals that the communications platform has fulfilled 900 U.S. government requests, sharing the phone number or IP address information of 2,253 users with law enforcement. This number is a steep increase from previous years, with most requests processed after the platform’s policy shift on sharing user data, announced in September 2024. While Telegram has long been […]
Raccoon Stealer malware operator gets 5 years in prison after guilty plea
Ukrainian national Mark Sokolovsky was sentenced today to five years in prison for his involvement in the Raccoon Stealer malware cybercrime operation. According to unsealed court documents, Sokolovsky (also known as raccoon-stealer, Photix, and black21jack77777) and his conspirators rented the malware to other threat actors under a MaaS (malware-as-a-service) model for $75 per week or $200 […]
Police shuts down Rydox cybercrime market, arrests 3 admins
Albanian law enforcement has seized the Rydox cybercrime marketplace and arrested three administrators in collaboration with international partners. Kosovo nationals Ardit Kutleshi, Jetmir Kutleshi, and Shpend Sokoli were arrested on Thursday by Kosovo law enforcement and Albania’s Special Anti-Corruption Body (SPAK). The U.S. Justice Department indicted the first two for involvement in Rydox’s operations, and they’re awaiting extradition to […]
Cybercrime gang arrested after turning Airbnbs into fraud centers
Eight members of an international cybercrime network that stole millions of Euros from victims and set up Airbnb fraud centers were arrested in Belgium and the Netherlands. The action was announced by Europol, which coordinated the operation, involving 17 simultaneous searches in the two countries, taking place on December 3. The arrests were the culmination of investigations […]
Police shuts down Manson cybercrime market, arrests key suspects
German law enforcement has seized over 50 servers that hosted the Manson Market cybercrime marketplace and fake online shops used in phishing operations. Two main suspects (currently in pretrial detention) believed to be Manson Market’s operators have been arrested in Germany and Austria under European arrest warrants on Wednesday in an operation led by the […]