Diogo Santos Coelho, 21, from Portugal, was arrested in January at the request of US law enforcement agencies, who are seeking his extradition. Europol said two of Coelho’s accomplices had also been arrested. One of them was another 21-year-old, based in Croydon, south London. RaidForums – which operated on the open web rather than the dark web – “used it as a major online marketplace for individuals to buy and sell compromised or stolen databases,” according to the US. Image: RaidForums domain confiscated by an international law enforcement agency The US has confiscated three domains used by the site and replaced them with a banner informing users about the confiscation. Several independent investigations into the crime site – including those in the United States, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Portugal and Romania – have been coordinated under the name Operation Tourniquet. What was RaidForums? According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, RaidForums was used “to sell hundreds of stolen databases containing more than 10 billion unique files.” “When it was founded in 2015, RaidForums also served as an online site for organizing and supporting forms of cyberbullying,” the Justice Department said in a statement. These harassment campaigns included “raids” that the FBI described as “posting or sending an overwhelming amount of contacts to a victim’s online media.” In addition to the raids, users also coordinated “swatting” incidents – described as “the practice of making false reports to public security services in situations that would require a significant and immediate armed response by law enforcement” – a practice that has led to deaths. Image: FBI acquires back-end criminal website database as part of its investigation How did they catch him? The use of anonymization technologies can make it difficult for law enforcement to investigate cybercrime forums. However, court documents reveal that the FBI “obtained a copy of the back-end database for RaidForums” in this investigation. This database reveals account registration information, IP address, login information, and personal messages between members and administrators – allowing agents to hunt down site administrators. “Our interdepartmental efforts to dismantle this sophisticated online platform – which has facilitated a wide range of criminal activities – should be a relief to the millions who fall victim,” said Jessica Amber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District. . The operation was described as “a warning to those cybercriminals involved in such heinous activities”, by Ms Aber, who added: “Internet anonymity could not protect the accused in this case from prosecution and will protect other or cybercriminals. “ In a separate case also involving RaidForums, the UK National Crime Agency arrested a “21-year-old from Croydon … at his home in March”, who has since been released under investigation. The unnamed 21-year-old is “suspected of being a webmaster” and officers “seized £ 5,000 in cash, thousands of US dollars and seized more than half a million dollars worth of encryption assets” at the time. of his arrest.
