Europol announced on Thursday that law enforcement in Germany and other European countries have dismantled infrastructure associated with a cybercrime marketplace and a network of phishing websites.
An investigation launched in 2022 led to the discovery of a cybercrime marketplace named Manson Market, which enabled scammers and others to buy and sell stolen personal and financial information.
According to Europol, thousands of Manson Market users were able to buy stolen bank account information that was sorted by region and account balance. Police were notified after scammers impersonated bank employees to obtain information such as addresses and security answers.
Authorities also discovered a network of fake online shops designed to trick people into entering their payment information, which was then sold on Manson Market.
Investigators seized more than 50 servers pertaining to Manson Market and the phishing websites. They also obtained over 200 Tb of evidence.
Users who now try to access Manson Market (manson-market.pw) are informed that all transactions, communications, and user information are in the possession of law enforcement.
Two unnamed individuals described as key suspects have been arrested — a 27-year-old in Germany and a 37-year-old in Austria.
The news comes just days after authorities in Germany announced the takedown of Crimenetwork, the largest German-speaking online criminal marketplace.
Crimenetwork had been around since 2012, being used to trade various types of illegal goods and services, including stolen information, drugs and counterfeit documents. Authorities said the platform had over 100,000 buyers and 100 sellers.
Europol this week also announced the takedown of Matrix, an encrypted messaging service used by criminals. Before shutting it down, investigators hacked into Matrix servers and monitored users’ messages for three months.
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