The U.S. has seized the cybercrime web site ‘PopeyeTools’ and unsealed fees in opposition to three of its directors, Abdul Ghaffar, Abdul Sami, and Javed Mirza, for promoting stolen knowledge.
Other than the seizure of a number of domains related to the cybercrime platform, the authorities have additionally confiscated $283,000 value of cryptocurrency linked to illicit operations.
PopeyeTools was a clearnet market devoted to facilitating cybercrime by promoting stolen monetary and private knowledge, together with instruments for conducting fraud and cyberattacks.
Launched in 2016, the platform served as a hub for 1000’s of customers worldwide, together with these concerned in ransomware actions and different refined cybercrimes.
In line with the authorities, PopeyeTools generated an estimated income of $1,700,000 by way of the sale of non-public and monetary data of no less than 227,000 people.
The providers provided within the market embrace:
- Bundles of unauthorized cost card knowledge and personally identifiable data (PII), marketed as “reside” and legitimate for fraudulent transactions, priced round $30 per card.
- Logs of stolen checking account particulars for fraudulent entry.
- Spam electronic mail lists for phishing or advertising and marketing scams.
- Templates for web sites utilized in rip-off operations.
- Instructional supplies for finishing up monetary fraud and different cybercrimes.
- Instruments to confirm the validity of stolen bank card, debit card, and checking account knowledge provided on {the marketplace}.
The platform additionally provided refund insurance policies and replacements for bought knowledge discovered to not be working, striving to keep up a excessive stage of customer support to draw and retain customers.
Right this moment, the authorities introduced the seizure of the PopeyeTools.com, PopeyeTools.uk, and PopeyeTools.to domains, with the latter being the newest internet hosting the cybercrime platform.
Guests to those URLs will now see the next banner, warning them that data on the platform’s members is now within the fingers of regulation enforcement investigators.
Directors charged
The three suspected directors, Ghaffar, 25, from Pakistan, Sami, 35, from Pakistan, and Mirza, 37, from Afghanistan, are accused of working PopeyeTools.
The three face fees of conspiracy to commit entry machine fraud, trafficking entry units, and solicitation for the aim of providing entry units.
If convicted, every cost carries a most penalty of 10 years in jail. Nonetheless, no arrests have been made right now, and it is unclear the place the suspects reside and if an extradition may be requested.
Nonetheless, roughly $283,000 value of cryptocurrency linked to Abdul Sami has been seized.