cybercrime
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 […]
Police seizes largest German online crime marketplace, arrests admin
Germany has taken down the largest online cybercrime marketplace in the country, named “Crimenetwork,” and arrested its administrator for facilitating the sale of drugs, stolen data, and illegal services. The law enforcement action was carried out on Monday by the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Frankfurt am Main, the Central Office for Combating Cybercrime (ZIT), and the Federal […]
US charges Phobos ransomware admin after South Korea extradition
Evgenii Ptitsyn, a Russian national and suspected administrator of the Phobos ransomware operation, was extradited from South Korea and is facing cybercrime charges in the United States. Phobos is a long-running ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) operation (derived from the Crysis ransomware family) widely distributed through many affiliates. Between May 2024 and November 2024, it accounted for roughly 11% of all […]
Interpol disrupts cybercrime activity on 22,000 IP addresses, arrests 41
Interpol announced it arrested 41 individuals and taken down 1,037 servers and infrastructure running on 22,000 IP addresses facilitating cybercrime in an international law enforcement action titled Operation Synergia II. The operation took place between April and August 2024, spanning 95 countries and resulting in 41 arrests of those linked to various crimes, including ransomware, […]
Ukrainian pleads guilty to operating Raccoon Stealer malware
Ukrainian national Mark Sokolovsky has pleaded guilty to his involvement in the Raccoon Stealer malware cybercrime operation. Sokolovsky and his conspirators distributed Raccoon Stealer under a MaaS (malware-as-a-service) model, allowing threat actors to rent it for $75 per week or $200 monthly. The malware steals a wide range of information from infected devices, including stored browser credentials and […]
Evil Corp hit with new sanctions, BitPaymer ransomware charges
The Evil Corp cybercrime syndicate has been hit with new sanctions by the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia. The US also indicted one of its members for conducting BitPaymer ransomware attacks. In 2019, the United States sanctioned seventeen individuals and seven entities linked to the Evil Corp gang, including the group’s leader, Maksim Yakubets. Today, the US Treasury’s […]