LEAKBASE , a well-known cybercrime forum, has been shut down as part of an international law enforcement operation named Operation Leak. The forum had been active since 2021 and, by December 2025, reportedly counted about 142,000 registered users who traded stolen data such as account credentials, personally identifiable information, and financial details.
Seizure of the LeakBase database enabled investigators to identify multiple users, with evidence including user account details, forum posts, private messages, and IP logs; Europol said the forum had approximately 215,000 private messages and 32,000 posts. Officers arrested suspects and conducted house searches and knock-and-talk interventions, with unspecified measures taken against 37 of the forum’s most active users.
The operation involved law enforcement agencies from North America, Europe, and the APAC region, and the takedown coincided with other global actions against cybercrime forums. According to Europol, one notable internal rule prohibited the sale or publication of any data related to Russia, hinting at the origin of LeakBase’s operators.