A man from south Manchester has been arrested as part of an international crackdown on a notorious criminal marketplace used by online fraudsters. 'Genesis' sold people's login details and other data to fraudsters online but was shut down yesterday (April 4).
The North West Regional Organised Crime Unit (NWROCU) joined coordinated raids by the NCA and police forces across the country, resulting in two arrests. This included a 21-year-old from Didsbury, south Manchester, who was arrested on suspicion of possession of articles for the use in the commission of fraud.
They were taken to custody for questioning but have since been released under investigation whilst forensic examination takes place. A 43-year-old man from Mold, North Wales, was also arrested for the same offences.
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The international police action took place across 17 countries and was led by the FBI and Dutch National Police. Genesis Market was a go-to service for criminals seeking to defraud victims, having hosted approximately 80 million credentials and digital fingerprints stolen from over two million people.
A total of 24 people were arrested during the action in the UK yesterday for a variety of offences from the Computer Misuse Act to fraud offences.
The NCA described Genesis Market as trading in 'digital identities', selling ‘bots’ that contained information taken from the victims' devices, which had been infected using malicious attacks. These indiscriminate attacks were conducted against both members of the public and larger companies.
The bots would then give the criminals access to all the data linked to an individuals' identity, such as cookies, saved logins and autofill form data.
Rob Jones, NCA Director General NECC and Threat Leadership, said: “Behind every cyber criminal or fraudster is the technical infrastructure that provides them with the tools to execute their attacks and the means to benefit financially from their offending. Genesis Market was a prime example of such a service and was one of the most significant platforms on the criminal market. Its removal will be a huge blow to criminals across the globe.
"Targeting this infrastructure is at the core of the NCA’s efforts to disrupt the highest harm offenders and protect the public from those seeking to infiltrate their lives, stealing their identities and their money. Cyber crime is a key enabler of the vast majority of fraud, which is now the single largest crime type in the UK, affecting more people than any other.
"It’s therefore extremely important that our response to these two threats is a collaborative effort at both an international and national level. Support from ROCUs and forces in this case was key to delivering this collaborative response in the UK and has resulted in us disrupting a significant number of offenders. The NCA is attacking criminal infrastructure from all angles and those seeking to use such services should be aware that we are coming after them."
Detective Inspector Chris McClellan from the NWROCU’s Cyber Crime Team added: "We urge members of the public to check if their data has been compromised and accessed by criminals on Genesis Market by visiting https://www.politie.nl/checkyourhack and inputting their email address.
"If you have been compromised, please report it to Action Fraud via their online portal. We also encourage members of the public to follow some simple steps to protect their devices and online accounts, which can be accessed on the NCA website: https://bit.ly/GenesisMarket.”
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