Two males have been indicted within the U.S. for his or her alleged involvement in managing a darkish internet market referred to as WWH Membership that focuses on the sale of delicate private and monetary data.
Alex Khodyrev, a 35-year-old Kazakhstan nationwide, and Pavel Kublitskii, a 37-year-old Russian nationwide, have been charged with conspiracy to commit entry system fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Khodyrev and Kublitskii, between 2014 and 2024, acted as the primary directors of WWH Membership (wwh-club[.]ws) and varied different sister websites – wwh-club[.]web, center-club[.]pw, opencard[.]pw, skynetzone[.]org – that functioned as darkish internet marketplaces, boards, and coaching facilities to allow cybercrime.
The indictment follows an investigation launched by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in July 2020 after figuring out that WWH Membership’s major area (www-club[.]ws] resolved to an IP tackle belonging to DigitalOcean, permitting them to challenge a federal search warrant to the infrastructure firm.
“WWH Club and sister site members used the marketplaces to buy and sell stolen personal identifying information (PII), credit card and bank account information, and computer passwords, among other sensitive information,” the U.S. Division of Justice (DoJ) mentioned.
The boards, however, acted as a hotspot for discussions on greatest practices for committing fraud, launching cyber assaults, and evading legislation enforcement.
Moreover, the darknet market provided on-line programs for aspiring and lively cyber criminals on easy methods to conduct frauds. The marketed price of the course ranged from 10,000 rubles to 60,000 rubles (about $110 to $664 as of September 7, 2024) and an extra $200 for coaching supplies.
Courtroom paperwork present that undercover FBI brokers signed up for the positioning and attended a coaching course provided by the platform by paying roughly $1,000 in bitcoin that included matters such because the sale of delicate data, DDoS and hacking providers, bank card skimmers, and brute-force packages.
“The training was conducted through a chat function on the forum to a class of approximately 50 students; the various instructors provided training in text format rather than audible instruction,” the legal grievance reads. “It was apparent the purpose of the training was to educate individuals on how to obtain and use stolen credit card data and PII to generate fraudulent proceeds.”
WWH Membership is estimated to have had 353,000 customers worldwide as of March 2023, up from 170,000 registered customers in July 2020. Each Khodyrev and Kublitskii are believed to have profited from the membership charges, tuition charges, and promoting income.
Flashpoint, in a report revealed final month, mentioned WWH-Membership stays operational regardless of the legislation enforcement effort, and that “its other administrators are attempting to distance themselves from Kublitskii and Khodyrev.”
Khodyrev and Kublitskii “had been living in Miami for the past two years, while secretly continuing to administer WWH Club and its sister dark web marketplaces, forums, and schools,” the DoJ mentioned.
If convicted on all counts, they may every resist 20 years in federal jail. The indictment additionally requires Khodyrev to forfeit his 2023 Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG sport utility car and Kublitskii’s 2020 Cadillac CT5 Sport sedan, that are mentioned to have been bought utilizing proceeds from their legal enterprise.
