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RAIDFORUMS MARKETPLACE SHUT DOWN IN GLOBAL OPERATION

By Shiona McCallum
Technology reporter

Published4 hours ago
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Image source, Getty Images

An online forum providing criminals with stolen personal data has been taken
down, in a global operation which saw its founder arrested.

Found on the open web rather than the darknet, RaidForums hosted sensitive
financial information and "served as a major online marketplace for hackers".

Its founder and chief administrator Diego Santos Coelho, 21, from Portugal, was
arrested in the UK on 31 January.

The US Department for Justice said he remains in custody pending extradition.

Separately the National Crime Agency (NCA) reported police had arrested another
suspected founder of the site - a 21 year-old from Croydon - at his home in
March.

He has since been released, under investigation, but at the time of his arrest
officers seized £5,000 in cash, thousands of US dollars and activated a freeze
on crypto assets worth more than half a million dollars.




CRIMINAL MARKETPLACE

RaidForums launched in 2015 and gained prominence in criminal circles by
offering access to high-profile database leaks, which could be used to enable
crimes such as fraud.

According to the threat intelligence firm Recorded Future, the site contained
more than 530,000 registered members and was a powerful tool among low to
mid-level cyber-criminals.

The compromised data, which hackers bought and sold, included information stolen
from UK companies, some of which related to credit cards, bank accounts,
usernames and passwords.

Investigators found that the forum was operating a membership scheme, where
users of the site paid up to 10 euros for access to chatrooms which allowed the
exchange of photographs and data linked to cyber-crime.

They suspected that administrators of the website, based in the UK, were helping
to manage its membership, as well as laundering payments to the site through a
separate - seemingly legitimate - online business.


INTERNATIONAL OPERATION

Police from the UK, US, Germany, Sweden, Portugal and Romania were all involved
in the dismantling of the online platform.



Under Operation Tourniquet, the international partners took action to close
RaidForums and carried out a number of linked arrests.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.View original tweet
on Twitter

"The takedown of this online market for the resale of hacked or stolen data
disrupts one of the major ways cyber-criminals profit from the large-scale theft
of sensitive personal and financial information," said Assistant Attorney
General Kenneth Polite.

"This is another example of how working with our international law enforcement
partners has resulted in the shutdown of a criminal marketplace and the arrest
of its administrator."

The FBI's Steven M D'Antuono said: "The seizure of the RaidForums website, which
facilitated the sale of stolen data from millions of people throughout the
world, and the charges against the marketplace's administrator, are a testament
to the strength of the FBI's international partnerships."

"Cyber-crime transcends borders, which is why the FBI is committed to working
with our partners to bring cyber-criminals to justice - no matter where in the
world they live or behind what device they try to hide."

Special agent Jason Kane, from the US Secret Service, said: "This global
investigation signifies the remarkable dedication of the US Secret Service and
highlights our partnerships with our foreign law enforcement counterparts
essential to disrupting sophisticated networks of cyber-criminals."




MORE ON THIS STORY

 * Ronin Network bailed out by crypto giant after hack
   
   5 days ago
   

 * How police shut down world's largest darknet market
   
   6 days ago
   


RELATED TOPICS

 * Cyber-crime
 * FBI
 * National Crime Agency
 * Dark web





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