Kosovo national Liridon Masurica has pleaded guilty to running BlackDB.cc, a cybercrime marketplace that has been active since 2018.
Kosovar authorities arrested the 33-year-old defendant (also known online as @blackdb) on December 14, 2024. He was extradited to the United States on May 9, 2025, and detained following his court appearance in Tampa on May 12.
Masurica was the lead administrator of the online criminal marketplace BlackDB.cc, which has been operating for almost seven years, between 2018 and 2025, according to court documents.
The Justice Department states that the marketplace offered for sale compromised accounts and server credentials, stolen credit card information, and personally identifiable information (PII) belonging to victims worldwide, with a particular focus on individuals from the United States.
This sensitive information was used by cybercriminals who purchased it on the BlackDB marketplace for various illicit activities, including credit card fraud, tax fraud, and identity theft.
Masurica was charged with five counts of fraudulent use of unauthorized access devices and one count of conspiracy to commit access device fraud. If convicted on all counts, the BlackDB marketplace admin could face a maximum sentence of 55 years in federal prison.
The FBI coordinated the investigation in partnership with the Kosovo Police’s Cybercrime Investigation Directorate, with support from the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs and the FBI’s Legal Attaché Office in Sofia, which assisted in the arrest and extradition of Masurica to the U.S.
In December 2024, a joint law enforcement operation led to the seizure of the Rydox cybercrime marketplace and the arrest of three of its admins, Kosovo nationals Ardit Kutleshi, Jetmir Kutleshi, and Shpend Sokoli. Days earlier, German law enforcement officers arrested key suspects after shutting down the Crimenetwork and the Manson market, the country’s largest online cybercrime marketplace.
Earlier this year, Ukrainian authorities also arrested the suspected administrator of the Russian-speaking hacking forum XSS at the request of the Paris public prosecutor’s office, one month after five operators of the BreachForums hacking forum were reportedly detained in France.
46% of environments had passwords cracked, nearly doubling from 25% last year.
Get the Picus Blue Report 2025 now for a comprehensive look at more findings on prevention, detection, and data exfiltration trends.
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