Law enforcement agencies in the United States and Europe have seized databases from LeakBase, which prosecutors touted as “one of the world's largest online forums for cybercriminals” to share stolen passwords and hacking tools.
U.S. and European police seized the site earlier this week and said its database contained more than 142,000 members and more than 215,000 messages sent between them.
Authorities say LeakBase has been active since 2021 and maintained an ongoing archive of hacked databases, including hundreds of millions of account credentials, credit card numbers, bank accounts and routing information.
This is the latest takedown targeting sites trading in stolen credentials, which are increasingly being used to break into people's accounts and steal data and cryptocurrencies.
Europol said in a statement that around 100 enforcement actions have been taken around the world, including against the forum's top 37 active users. The FBI redirected the site's domain to an FBI-controlled name server early Wednesday, effectively shutting down the site.
Leakbase is currently displaying a seizure notice stating that forum content, private messages, and IP address logs are being stored. According to The Record's interview with FBI cyber official Brett Leatherman, the investigation resulted in more than 13 arrests, searches, interviews with 33 suspects, and the collection of the entire forum database.
European police officer Image credit: Europol
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