With a deep understanding of the complexities of the Dark Web, Harper curates informative and thought-provoking content for our readers. Her knowledge of the hidden corners of the internet and cybersecurity helps shed light on the often mysterious and illicit activities that take place in this realm.
Latest posts by Harper Stewart (see all)
- Dark Web Trio Sentenced - October 15, 2023
- Dymocks Data: Darknet Hit? - October 15, 2023
- Dark Web Forum Shows How to Synthesize Methamphetamine at Home - October 4, 2023
The individual oversaw the SSNDOB Marketplace, a network of websites that offered for sale sensitive personal data on Americans, such as their complete names, birthdates, and Social Security Numbers (SSNs). The marketplace domains were taken over by law enforcement on June 7th, 2022. The SSNDOB portal had previously offered and sold the personal information of 24 million people, bringing in approximately $19,000,000.
The U.S. DoJ release states that “Stolen Social Security numbers may be utilized to perpetrate an array of scams, such as United States tax fraud, unemployment insurance fraud, loan fraud, credit card fraud, and similar.” Investigators found that one site customer utilized stolen personal information that he bought to steal and launder approximately $10 million. Chychasov was detained in March 2022 as he tried to enter Hungary, and in July 2022, he was extradited to the United States.
The individual pleaded guilty and agreed to forfeit the websites “blackjob.biz,” “ssndob.club,” and “ssndob.vip” that were used to perpetrate the crimes.
Sergey Pugach, a second SSNDOB administrator, was also detained in May 2022.
Due to an investigation launched by the IRS and FBI’s cybercrime branch with assistance from the U.S. Department of Justice and authorities in Cyprus and Latvia, the U.S. authorities were able to identify the two administrators.
According to court records, the admins advertised SSNDOB through their creations on several dark web destinations, including hacker forums and other markets for crimes.
The admins only took payments in obscure cryptocurrencies and ran the website’s servers from carefully chosen locations throughout the world to avoid being discovered by the authorities. Chychasov now faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in jail and has agreed to surrender the $5,000,000 estimated profits of crime.