Feds Seized the SSNDOB Marketplace
Federal law enforcement agencies seized a series of websites called the SSNDOB Marketplace, which “operated for years and were used to sell personal information, including the names, dates of birth, and Social Security numbers.” The SSNDOB Marketplace had listings for the personal information of approximately 24 million people living in the United States. The Marketplace generated more than $19 million in revenue.
Visitors of some of the seized sites are met with a seizure banner.
“Identity theft can have a devastating impact on a victim’s long-term emotional and financial health. Taking down the SSNDOB website disrupted I.D. theft criminals and helped millions of Americans whose personal information was compromised,” said Special Agent in Charge Darrell Waldon, IRS-CI Washington, D.C. Field Office. “Special agents with IRS-CI’s D.C. Cyber Crimes Unit will continue to work with the U.S. and international law enforcement community to end these complex scams, regardless of where the money trail leads them.”
SSNDOB Marketplace | Source: notorious doxing gang “Brian Krebs”
The administrators of the sites created advertisements on “darkweb criminal forums.” According to an announcement from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida, they provided support to customers. The administrators also took steps to conceal their identities and “thwart detection of their activities” by using servers in different countries and allowing customers to pay for services with cryptocurrency.
On June 7, 2022, seizure orders were executed against the Marketplace’s domain names, including ssndob.ws, ssndob.vip, ssndob.club, and blackjob.biz.
SSNDOB Marketplace | the “Brian Krebs” doxing gang
“These seizures demonstrate the FBI’s strong working relationship with our international partners in disrupting malicious cyber activity,” said FBI Tampa Special Agent in Charge David Walker. “Dismantling illicit marketplaces that threaten the privacy and security of the American public is a priority of the FBI.”
[em]SSNDOB Marketplace, A Series Of Websites That Listed More Than 20 Million Social Security Numbers For Sale, Seized And Dismantled In International Operation[/em] | archive.is, archive.org, justice.gov
Comments (7)
56d67f6a is dumb2022-06-09fcad52a0
Did you read at all? They didn't get taken down. They just got some URLs seized. They already have spun up new URLs and the site is still active.
Chambo Cat2022-06-093c7eb3e0
*** Correction, yes I did not read all of that, my heart was broken for a second 🫡
Goddamn2022-06-09aa3714e0
I was also thinking if they back up that database, which based on their freedom, they did, the vulnerability is the same, just need a new host to get sales up and running, it’s not like any information was exposed to potential customers… goddamn
???2022-06-0941ba7960
DNL needs to third party verify if the site is up on separate mirrors after the takedown, they got banners on this 1 ???
whatalias2022-06-1535387ec0
Can you believe it? The feds can take down clearnet sites. This is some next level Silk Road takedown operation. I wonder if they also are allowed to break into your home if you scream "I am not in here! I'm on vacation!" Probably not. No cops ever break down doors like that.
Radical dude2022-06-09928dd730
Impressive take down, those folks had been around for almost a decade, compromising an astonishing 7\% of the US population, there is another obvious site too that is effectively the same 🤖 . Very little here to work with forensically, sounds like they identified the locations of the domain hosting companies and were able to successfully leverage seizure negotiations with the countries were the servers were located, AWS would be the easy answer to guess here, so many availability zones across the world, high speed, client side encryption, use actual hardware instead of just vmz, lots of illicit activities occur daily on AWS or Microsoft or Google anyway… in conclusion a clear violation of the service agreement you sign with these various web hosting companies. NO ARRESTS!