As a result of Operation TOURNIQUET, Europol closed the illegal marketplace "RaidForums", one of the largest hacker forums in the world, and confiscated its infrastructure. The complex law enforcement effort was coordinated by Europol to support independent investigations by the United States, United Kingdom, Sweden, Portugal and Romania. The forum administrator and two of his accomplices were also arrested.
Launched in 2015, RaidForums was considered one of the largest hacking forums in the world with a community of over half a million users. This marketplace had made a name for itself by selling access to high-profile database leaks owned by a number of US companies across multiple industries. These contained information for millions of credit cards, bank account numbers and routing information, as well as the usernames and associated passwords needed to access online accounts. These records come from data breaches and other exploits that have taken place in recent years.
One of the largest hacker forums in the world has been shut down
The former website only shows the blocking banner of the European police authorities (Image: Europol).
Operation TOURNIQUET, coordinated at international level by Europol's European Cybercrime Centre, was the culmination of a year of meticulous planning between the law enforcement agencies involved to prepare for action. The partners have worked closely within the Europol-based Joint Cybercrime Action Taskforce (J-CAT) to identify key targets and establish a coordinated strategy to prepare for the final phase of the investigation.
This intensive exchange of information allowed the investigators to define the different roles played by the targets in this marketplace: the administrator, the money launderers, the users responsible for the theft/upload of the data, and the buyers.
RaidForums closed – backers caught
Head of Europol's European Cybercrime Center Edvardas Šileris said: Disruptions have always been a key technique to deal with threat actors online, so attacking forums hosting massive amounts of stolen data keeps criminals on their toes. Europol will continue to work with its international partners to make cybercrime harder - and riskier - to commit.
The following authorities were involved in this investigation:
- Sweden: Swedish Police Authority (Polisen)
- Romania: National Police (Poliţia Română)
- Portugal: Judicial Police (Polícia Judiciária)
- Germany: Federal Criminal Police Office
- United States: US Secret Service (USSS), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI)
- United Kingdom: National Crime Agency (NCA)
- Europol: European Cybercrime Center (EC3), Joint Cybercrime Action Taskforce (J-CAT)