RaidForums: 21-Year-Old Accused Ringleader Arrested by Feds  

Authorities in the United States have announced the closure of massive cybercrime hub as part of a broader assault on illegal websites. The Justice Department announce on Tuesday that RaidForums has been shut down. It is one of the major dark websites for stolen data on the internet. Its accused operator had been detained too.  

RaidForums Seized by American Authorities  

According to the FBI, Diogo Santos Coelho, a 21-year-old Portuguese man, directly sold stolen information on the website while simultaneously serving as its “primary administrator.” As per court records, Coelho (who used the hacker alias “Omnipotent”) allegedly ran RaidForums with the cooperation of other, unknown admins from 2015 to January of this year. On January 31, British authorities detained Coelho in the United Kingdom at the request of the United States. Officials stated Tuesday that he will stay in detention there until his extradition procedures are completed.  

The closure of RaidForums coincides with a US law enforcement assault on cybercrime. Numerous other dark web criminal sites, including Hydra, a huge Russian-language market infamous for narcotics trafficking and money laundering, were taken down by federal investigators last week. Recently, US officials collaborated with Romanian authorities to assist in the arrest of a number of men suspected of operating Besa Mafia. It is a long-running scam site that offers fictitious “murder-for-hire” operations. Last Wednesday, the FBI stopped a botnet purportedly operated by the Russian cyber gang Sandworm.  

Authorities Seized 3 Websites  

In addition to seizing Coelho, authorities seized three websites and the illegal marketplace’s user database. For selling and trading data using cryptocurrencies on RaidForums, cybercriminals had to create anonymous accounts. According to CNN, the site had over 530,000 registered users at the time of its removal.  

RaidForums has been a massive store for stolen data for the longest time. Hackers use the platform to sell and buy a broad range of information. Including credit card numbers, banking numbers, and account credentials. Many firms who have had data breaches throughout the years have ended up with their sites’ contents being sold on RaidForums for a variety of pricing.

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