After an investigation, federal authorities have closed an illegal information market and auction site, Rydox.
In addition to closing the site, several administrators operating and selling personal data have been charged. Ardit Kutleshi, 26, and Jetmir Kutleshi, 28, are currently under an extradition order from Kosovo.
It is alleged that since the creation of the site in 2016, over $230,000 profit has been made by the men, and there have been 7,600 sales of personally identifiable information (PII), stolen access devices, and cybercrime tools.
“The indictment alleges that, for more than eight years, the defendants administered an illicit online marketplace that sold PII, credit card information, and login credentials that had been stolen from thousands of U.S. victims,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division
Rydox marketplace shut down
“The Rydox marketplace was a one-stop shop where upwards of 18,000 of its cybercriminal customers could choose from more than 300,000 cybercrime tools,” said U.S. Attorney Eric G. Olshan for the Western District of Pennsylvania.
The Kuleshis are subject to an international effort to extradite them to face the unsealed charges in the Western District of Pennsylvania.
The domain www.Rydox.cc has now been seized by government authorities. In addition to this action, the report stated that the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) and the Royal Malaysian Police seized servers in “Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, that hosted the Rydox illicit marketplace and took the Rydox website offline. The United States also obtained judicial authorization to seize approximately $225,000 worth of cryptocurrency from accounts controlled by the defendants.”
Both men will be set to face charges, including two counts of identity theft, one count of conspiracy to commit identity theft, one count of aggravated identity theft, one count of access device fraud, and one count of money laundering, all arising from their roles as administrators of the Rydox website.
“The success of this international operation underscores the power of collaboration between the FBI and our partners worldwide,” said Special Agent in Charge Kevin Rojek of the FBI Pittsburgh Field Office. “It also serves as a clear warning: those who go after innocent people for financial gain will be pursued and brought to justice no matter where they are in the world.”
Image: Pexels.
