The US Justice Department last week announced charges against a man accused of buying credentials from the Genesis Market cybercrime marketplace, as well as using and selling those credentials.
The suspect is 29-year-old Andrew Shenkosky from Michigan. According to authorities, the man, who had resided in Minnesota when he conducted the scheme back in 2020, purchased roughly 2,500 stolen login credentials from Genesis Market.
In at least one case Shenkosky allegedly used the credentials to steal money from a bank account, transferring the funds to a PayPal account he controlled. He also attempted to sell some of the stolen account data on RaidForums, a cybercrime marketplace dismantled in an international law enforcement operation in 2022.
The man has been charged with wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, possession of unauthorized access devices, and trafficking computer access information.
Shenkosky appeared before a judge earlier this month and his arraignment hearing is scheduled for this week.
The Genesis Market website was targeted by law enforcement in April 2023, when the FBI announced seizing the surface web domain used by the site and the arrest of 120 individuals.
The marketplace had been around since 2018, offering cybercriminals access to bots that could be used to carry out malicious activities and bypass anti-fraud systems.
Administrators were apparently not arrested in the 2023 operation and they had attempted to keep the website online on the dark web after the takedown effort. There hasn’t been any news on Genesis Market since, which indicates that it was completely shut down at some point.
Last year, the Justice Department announced charges against a Buffalo police detective who had allegedly bought stolen credentials from Genesis Market.
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