German legislation enforcement has seized over 50 servers that hosted the Manson Market cybercrime market and faux on-line outlets utilized in phishing operations.
Two major suspects (at the moment in pretrial detention) believed to be Manson Market’s operators have been arrested in Germany and Austria below European arrest warrants on Wednesday in an operation led by the cybercrime departments of the Verden Public Prosecutor’s Workplace (Staatsanwaltschaft Verden) and the Hanover Police Division (Polizeidirektion Hannover).
“The investigation began in the autumn of 2022, following reports of fraudulent phone calls in which scammers impersonated bank employees to extract sensitive information, such as addresses and security answers, from victims,” Europol stated at this time.
“The stolen data was traced back to a specialised online marketplace that operated as a central hub for the trade of illegally obtained information.”
​In coordinated search raids throughout Europe with police authorities from Austria, the Netherlands, Czech Republic, Finland, Poland, and Europol forces, the investigation staff seized 50 servers and over 200 terabytes of paperwork containing proof linked to the hundreds of customers and sellers energetic on the fraud market.
“All transactions, communications, and user information associated with this site are now in the custody of law enforcement,” the seizure banner displayed on {the marketplace}’s seized area (manson-market[.]pw) warns.
“If you have engaged in any illegal activity, you are under investigation. Criminals are neither anonymous nor safe! Justice is coming…”
Investigators discovered patrons utilizing the platform might buy packages of stolen credentials, fee knowledge, and private info personalized utilizing area and account stability filters for focused fraudulent actions. Round 57 victims have suffered losses exceeding 250,000 euros as a result of stolen on-line banking and bank card info offered available on the market and used for fraud.
In addition they discovered a fancy community of pretend on-line outlets used to steal their guests’ victims’ banking particulars and private info and found that over 63,000 stolen data have been offered on the Manson Market cybercrime market.
On Monday, German authorities took down “Crimenetwork,” the most important on-line cybercrime market within the nation, and arrested its administrator for facilitating the sale of medication, stolen knowledge, and unlawful providers like doc forging.
Between 2018 and 2024, transactions on the platform reached over 1,000 Bitcoin and over 20,000 Monero, at the moment valued at roughly €93 million (roughly $98 million), with the market’s operators getting a 5% minimize and making earnings of not less than $5 million.
In current months, German legislation enforcement additionally seized 47 cryptocurrency change providers and the Dstat.cc DDoS assessment platform hosted within the nation.
