A coordinated action between several European law enforcement agencies shut down an online marketplace called Manson Market that sold stolen data to any interested cybercriminal.
What made this market attractive for cybercriminals was that they could buy data sorted by region and account balance with advanced filtering options. This allowed the criminals to carry out targeted fraud with greater efficiency.
The law enforcement investigation started in 2022 when investigators were able to track very specific information used by scammers to the specialized marketplace. The scammers participated in fraudulent phone calls in which they impersonated bank employees to extract sensitive information, such as addresses and security answers, from their victims.
A network of fake online shops set up to phish for payment information provided one of the sources of stolen data.
Coordinated by Europol, the police in Germany, Finland, the Netherlands, and Norway seized the infrastructure of over 50 servers. With this, more than 200 terabytes of digital evidence have been collected.
Two main suspects were arrested in Germany and Austria on European arrest warrants and are currently awaiting their trials.
The operators of the Manson Market also ran Telegram channels, with one of the channels sharing credit card details, such as the number, expiration date, and the CVC code, for free every day.
The seized website currently warns visitors that:
“All transactions, communications, and user information associated with this site are now in the custody of law enforcement.
If you have engaged in any illegal activity, you are under investigation.
Criminals are neither anonymous nor safe!
Justice is coming…”
And we can’t deny that European law enforcement had a fruitful week in the fight against online crime.
Earlier this week the German police shut down the servers and arrested one of the administrators of the country’s largest German-speaking online marketplaces for illegal goods and services, including stolen data, drugs, and forged documents.
Europol also published how French and Dutch authorities shut down an encrypted messaging service called MATRIX, which was used by criminals to commit serious crimes, including international drug trafficking, arms trafficking, and money laundering.
The Manson Market case shows once more how important it is to be vigilant with your online purchases. Make sure you are protected, be weary of search results for goods that are in high demand, and keep your personal information safe.
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