Cybercrime
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Fraud Management & Cybercrime
Website of BreachForums Administrator ‘Baphomet’ Also Appears to Be Down
This is a breaking news story. Check back for additional details as more information becomes available.
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An international law enforcement operation shut down BreachForums, a criminal forum where hackers posted and sold the contents of hacked databases.
The website of the criminal forum in its clear and dark web domains displays a seizure notice stating that it is “under the control of the FBI.” It also displays the logos of multiple law enforcement agencies, including police from New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom, Germany, Iceland and Ukraine.
“We are reviewing this site’s backend data,” the seized site states. An FBI website allows “victims or individuals that have information to assist in any of the investigations” against criminal data breach forums to submit that information. The bureau did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This iteration of BreachForums is a successor to an earlier version shuttered by police in March 2023 (see: How BreachForums’ ‘Pompompurin’ Led the FBI to His Home).
It started operations in June under the tutelage of online hacking group ShinyHunters (see: Data Breaches: ShinyHunters’ Dominance Continues).
The website of apparent BreachForums administrator “Baphomet” also appears to be down.
Police arrested Conor Brian Fitzpatrick, administrator of the first BreachForums, last year in his Hudson Valley home. Fitzpatrick, aka “Pompompurin,” evaded prison time during sentencing earlier this year.
BreachForums is a successor to Raidforums, which was the target of an international law enforcement operation that shuttered the site in February 2022.