A large Russian-speaking site on the dark web has been shut down. There, people had been trading drugs, data, and passwords for billions of euros annually.
Data and passwords regularly fall into the hands of fraudsters. Just recently, a massive hack at Nvidia caused a stir. Such data often ends up in criminal networks, where the data and passwords are sold for high prices.
One of the websites that has been trading such data for years has now been shut down. At least, that’s what the German Federal Criminal Police Office reported. MeinMMO explains what it’s all about.
Russian-speaking platform generated over 1 billion euros in 2022 alone
What platform are we talking about? The platform is “Hydra Market.” It was an illegal marketplace where users could buy numerous items at least since 2015:
- illegal drugs
- stolen data and passwords
- forged documents
- digital services such as ransomware or money laundering
If your passwords or access data ended up in the hands of hackers, you could be sure that they were eventually offered on “Hydra Market” for a lot of money.
In 2020 alone, the platform reportedly earned 1.23 billion euros from such services. This makes “Hydra Market” the largest illegal marketplace of its kind.
Now, the Central Office for Combating Internet Crime (ZIT) and the Federal Criminal Police Office have shut down the site in collaboration with several U.S. authorities.
What exactly happens to the seized Bitcoins worth around 23 million euros is still unknown. It wouldn’t be the first time that the state sells seized Bitcoins to interested users (via tagesspiegel.de)
Fraudsters use various tricks to get users’ money
Even outside the dark web, many fraudsters are active. For example, fraudsters cheated unsuspecting gamers out of 55,000 euros by promising them Bitcoins. The users’ money eventually disappeared, and real Bitcoins were also not given away.
It gets really absurd when people come up with particularly crazy ideas. For instance, in Eastern Europe, a few individuals started collecting FIFA in-game currency on a large scale with old PS4 consoles.
FIFA: Fraudsters use 3,800 PS4 consoles to farm FUT currency
