The U.S. Department of Justice has taken action against Bidencash’s DarkNet market, announcing the seizure of cryptocurrency assets and 145 Internet sectors related to its operations.
The announcement comes from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Eastern Virginia, detailing the climax of a coordinated investigation into a platform that helps sell stolen credit card data and personal information to thousands of users.
Encrypted seizures and domain declines
Launched in March 2022, Bidencash quickly becomes a hub for illegal transactions, providing stolen payment certificates and identity data to a growing customer base.
The market reportedly amassed more than 117,000 users and is responsible for allocating more than 15 million damaged payment card numbers. The Justice Department said Biden Cash administrators charged transaction fees and earned more than $17 million during the run.
As part of law enforcement efforts, authorities have obtained court approval to seize cryptocurrency funds Bidencash uses to facilitate the exchange of illegal goods and services.
The specific amount and wallet address involved have not been disclosed, but the government stressed that these digital assets represent the proceeds from illegal transactions conducted on the platform.
Moving forward, the seizure domain will be redirected to a law enforcement controlled server to prevent further access or use. The survey also revealed the promotional strategy used by Bidencash: From October 2022 to February 2023, the platform released 3.3 million stolen credit cards for free, providing more services for free to encourage wider use of its services.
These leaked data sets contain complete cardholder information, including credit card number, CVV code, expiration date, name, email address, and physical location. The exposure of this information has attracted significant attention to identity theft and fraud in affected jurisdictions.
International cooperation and cybercrime execution
The enforcement action is led by the U.S. Secret Service’s Frankfurt Resident Office and the FBI’s Albuquerque Field Office, with the assistance of cyber forensics from the Secret Service’s Cyber Investigation Division.
The case also involves international coordination with law enforcement agencies, including the Dutch national high-tech crime department, the Shadowserver Foundation and the cybersecurity company Searchlight Network.
Officials involved in the announcement include U.S. attorney Erik S. Siebert, U.S. Secret Service Agent John Szydlik and FBI agent Philip Russell.
The action marks a continuation of the federal effort to eliminate cybercrime infrastructure running on the dark web and to undermine illegal markets that rely on cryptocurrencies to make payments.
In recent years, this has been other notable actions targeting the Dark Web Platform, including the closure of Hydra Market and Alphabay.
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