FBI concludes DarkMarket sting operation

Written by IT News on 10:48 PM

Earlier this week a German radio unmasked an FBI operation in a popular underground forum used by cybercriminals to sell stolen banking information and equipment used in the fraud by credit card. The FBI confirmed the operation in a press release describing the results achieved so far and their future plans.

As we previously reported radio Südwestrundfunk German hand in some documents leaked from the German national police, which the FBI had penetrated and managed by the Dark Market underground carding forum since 2006. Poined same document to board members in a forum, which has been nicknamed Master Splinter as FBI Senior Agent J. Keith Mularski for the IT Initiative and Resources Unit fusion at the National Cyber Forensics Training Alliance (NCFTA) in Pittsburgh.

The site that FBI claims have 2500 subscribers from around the world was closed earlier this month. There is no clear information on why the FBI decided to close it, but Master Splinter posted on the table before it happened "It is obvious that this forum ... attract too much attention from many of the world services (agents of FBI, SS, and Interpol). I think it was only time before this would happen. It is very unfortunate that we have come to this situation, because ... we have established DM as the first English language forum to operate. This is life. When you're on top, people try to get down."

FBI does not provide specific information on the identities of its agents infiltrated or how it all plays, but not prove the existence of the operation. "A primary goal of this operation was to infiltrate the forum, develop intelligence on its leading members, and in coordination with our U.S. and international law enforcement partners systematically identify, locate and arrest in a long time", according to the FBI's press release.

As a result of Intel gathered by the forum, a total of 56 arrests were made in the world in the last two years. The FBI estimates that, because of management, for a total of $ 70 one million saved by the theft, immediately close the compromised bank accounts have been disclosed or sold in the Forum.

The Register reports that five people were arrested this week in Britain in connection with Dark Market operation. This is confirmed by the FBI Cyber Division Assistant Director Shawn Henry. "The arrests this week in the UK is a good demonstration of the coordination taking place today between the FBI, the Serious Organized Crime Agency (SOCA), and other law enforcement agencies throughout the world," says Mr. Henry.

In addition, information collected in this operation may take other arrests worldwide. "Separate from these successes, this operation created new leads and more investigative information to pursue. This work is ongoing monitoring of the FBI and international law enforcement partners," informs the press release.

It should be noted that the items the FBI on the implementation of the Dark Market forum existed almost since the operation began. In 2006, shortly after he joined the administration Dark Master Splinter Board, a hacker named Max Ray Butler got unauthorized access to the database server and discloses IP the new admin used to log the IP address is registered to NCFTA in Pittsburgh, but hackers were rejected by the very members of the Forum at that time. The FBI eventually arrested Butler in 2007 on credit card fraud charges.