PANews reported on November 22 that the U.S. Department of Justice announced the closure of the illegal cybercrime market PopeyeTools and indicted its three managers, Abdul Ghaffar and Abdul Sami of Pakistan, and Javed Mirza of Afghanistan. The Department of Justice accused the three of conspiracy to commit access device fraud, illegal trading of access devices, and selling illegal tools and data through websites, including stolen bank account information and payment card data.
PopeyeTools has been operating since 2016 and is a global market mainly used to sell sensitive financial data and cybercrime tools. It has sold information of at least 227,000 victims and made a profit of approximately $1.7 million. The Justice Department's action also includes the seizure of related domain names and cryptocurrencies worth approximately $283,000. The Justice Department pointed out that if the managers involved in the case are convicted, each charge could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison. The case was led by the FBI Buffalo Division and assisted by law enforcement agencies in the UK and Malaysia.
