The data of 24 million US citizens had been stolen and offered for sale illegally to various services or individuals.

However, in a joint operation with the FBI, the Cyprus police confiscated servers hosting websites that sold hacked personal data of US citizens.

As the Head of the Cybercrime Sub-Directorate of the Cyprus Police Headquarters, Andreas Anastasiadis, told CNA, “the FBI is investigating the theft and dissemination of personal data and illegal access to electronic data of 24 million US citizens stolen and offered for sale for illegal purposes to various services or individuals.”

He further added that “this data was stored on four websites in Cyprus, where, in cooperation with the FBI and after an investigation, it was possible to stop these services. The sale of this data is no longer available and all the necessary evidence has been confiscated.”

As a result of the investigation, the servers located in Cyprus hosting these websites were confiscated. The server administrator, a resident of Cyprus, fully cooperated with the police, according to Mr. Anastasiadis, while the suspects were abroad. “The investigation lasted about 6 months for the Cyprus Police and is considered to be of great importance,” he noted, adding that the case is still ongoing until it is fully solved.

In a Twitter post today, the Cyprus Police announced that they had contributed, in a joint operation with the FBI, to take offline a marketplace that sold the personal data of millions of US citizens.

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The US Attorney’s Office says the SSNDOB market, which consists of a series of websites selling more than 20 million social security numbers, has been seized and dismantled during an international operation.

“US Attorney, Roger B. Huntberg, along with Special Agent, Darrell Waldon, on behalf of the IRS – Criminal Investigation Field Office, and Special Agent, David Walker, on behalf of the FBI – Tampa Division, announced today the seizure of the SSNDOB Marketplace, a series of websites that have been operating for years selling personal information, including names, dates of birth and social security numbers belonging to US citizens,” it reported.

“The SSNDOB has registered the personal data of approximately 24 million people in the United States, generating more than $ 19 million in sales revenue,” the US Attorney’s Office said in a statement. “The international operation to dismantle and seize this infrastructure is the result of close cooperation with law enforcement authorities in Cyprus and Latvia,” it said.

“On June 7, 2022, seizure orders were issued for the SSNDOB Marketplace domain names (ssndob.ws, ssndob.vip, ssndob.club, and blackjob.biz), effectively shutting down the site,” the statement added. The US investigation was led by the IRS – Criminal Investigation Cyber ​​Crimes Unit and the FBI – Tampa Division, with the help of the IRS – Criminal Investigation’s Tampa Field Office. 

Significant assistance was also provided by the Office of International Affairs of the Ministry of Justice, the FBI Legal Assistance Bureau responsible for Latvia and Cyprus, the Latvian Police, and the Cyprus Police.

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