RUSSIAN authorities have arrested the suspected administrator of LeakBase, a forum used to trade stolen personal data, for running the marketplace since 2021. The suspect, from Taganrog, is accused of operating the site for four years during which it had over 147,000 users who bought, sold and used data for fraud, authorities said. Police have detained a Taganrog resident suspected of administering LeakBase, one of the largest hacker platforms, according to TASS.
In early March, FBI seized the LeakBase forum as part of “Operation Leak,” an Europol-coordinated effort involving authorities from 14 countries that took control of the forum’s domains and posted seizure notices. On March 3, law enforcement carried out coordinated actions worldwide, including arrests, house searches and about 100 interventions targeting 37 of the most active users; the next day the domain was seized and replaced with a law-enforcement notice.
Europol supported the operation by mapping the forum’s infrastructure and linking suspects, victims and evidence across borders, with investigators moving into a prevention stage to deter cybercrime and raise awareness.