Genesis Market contained an estimated 80 million credentials and digital fingerprints stolen from over two million people, which could be easily purchased on the platform and were used by cybercriminals for financial fraud.
The operation was directed by the FBI and the Dutch National Police. According to the NCA Director Rob Jones, Genesis was one the most significant online platforms on the criminal market.
“Its removal will be a huge blow to criminals across the globe,” he said.
The site had been active since 2018 and was, the U.S. Treasury said, believed to be based in Russia.
The data sold on Genesis was harvested from victim devices, which had been infected through malware attacks. It contained information such as cookies and saved login details.
The price for a set of data pertaining to an individual’s identity would range from as little as $0.7 to several hundred dollars depending on the quantity and nature of the stolen information.
The most expensive products were financial information that allowed access to online bank accounts. Those could be used to steal funds from the victim’s accounts or for laundering proceeds from other criminal activities.
To allow its users to bypass standard security checks, Genesis provided a custom browser that mimicked that of a victim and was linked to the victim’s usual location and operating system.
The NCA noted that it is likely the stolen information was also used by criminals to impersonate specific individuals in romance and investment frauds.
Concurrently with the operation, the U.S. Treasury designated sanctions against Genesis, noting that they might be also extended to individuals engaged in certain transactions with the entity.