One of the most dangerous marketplaces selling personal identities to hackers online was shut down, in an operation involving law enforcement from 17 countries.
ADVERTISEMENTIn a major international investigation led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, law enforcement conducted raids in 17 countries, including the Netherlands.
European police officials for the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol) announced on Wednesday the closure of one of the world's largest hacker platforms, which has sold millions of stolen account credentials.
In total, more than 100 cybercriminals were arrested, who together took advantage of millions of people.
This global crackdown, which targeted the Genesis Market platform, resulted in 119 arrests and involved more than 17 countries, Europol said in a statement.
More than 200 properties were searched during this "unprecedented" operation, carried out by the FBI and the Dutch police, which began in 2019.
Twenty-four arrests were made in the UK and 17 in the Netherlands, Dutch police said.
"There is a huge investigation that the FBI is in charge of. Over two million victims worldwide. Victims have not just had their credentials stolen but also their online fingerprints.
"And that can mean that all your stolen data can be misused: from webshops, banks, and your Digid (an identity management platform which government agencies use in the Netherlands), your social media, everything. The victims are distraught. they don't know how to free their computer from this type of crime" said Ruben van Wal, a police officer from the cybercrime."
The platform offered for sale "bots" that infected victims' devices through malware or other methods.
Arrests also took place in Australia, Canada, the US, and more than 10 countries on the European continent.
"We have seriously disrupted the cybercriminal ecosystem by removing one of its main catalysts," Edvardas Sileris, who heads Europol's European Cybercrime Centre said.
For more watch Euronews' report in the video above.