Operation Cookie Monster: FBI Seizes Genesis Market Involved in Identity Theft

More than 100 individuals have been detained by the FBI and European law enforcement agencies for being involved in a global cybercrime forum, that apparently aided in some large-scale identity thefts.

According to the US Justice Department, the operation was directed at Genesis Market, an invitation-only crime forum that has been selling information obtained from more than 1.5 million computers worldwide that contains the login information for more than 80 million user accounts over the past five years.

On Tuesday, the FBI carried out raids on the main websites conducting cybercrime activities from more than a dozen countries, from the Netherlands to Australia.

A senior FBI official told reporters on Wednesday that at least some of the arrests took place in the US but declined to provide any more details due to an ongoing investigation. “Victims of Genesis incurred losses that exceed tens of millions of dollars,” the FBI official said.

Reportedly, 45 of 56 FBI field offices across the US were involved in the investigation, with Attorney General Merrick Garland, in a statement calling the cybercrime sting operation “unprecedented” for law enforcement.

According to the seizure notice seen by CNN, the FBI seized the web domains of Genesis Market in response to a court order from the US District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. As per the seizure notice, the FBI called the takedown “Operation Cookie Monster,” a pun on the forum’s sale

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