The FBI, along with a coalition of international law enforcement agencies, took over the famous cybercrime forum BreachForums on Wednesday.
For years, BreachForums has been a popular English-language forum for hackers and cybercriminals who wanted to advertise, sell and exchange stolen data. Recently, a threat actor announced the personal information of Dell customers and data stolen from a Europol portal.
BreachForums has proven to be resilient. Last year, authorities seized an older version of the site, three months after arresting its administrator, Conor Brian Fitzpatrick, also known as pompompurin. After that, someone using the online username Baphomet took over and reestablished the site, which had three different domains over the past year, according to the FBI.
When approached by TechCrunch for comment, FBI spokesperson Samantha Shero declined to comment. Justice Department spokesman Joshua Stueve also declined to comment.
Unlike the previous seizure of the site, this time the feds also took control of the forum’s official Telegram channel, as well as the channel of one of the site’s administrators, Baphomet.
Both Telegram channels showed the same message from the FBI, announcing that it had taken control and was “reviewing the site’s backend data.”
“If you have information to report cybercriminal activity on BreachForums, please contact us,” the message concludes, with a link to a dedicated FBI website where victims and forum members can send the feds information about the former cybercrime forum.
“From June 2023 to May 2024, BreachForums (hosted at breakforums.st/.cx/.is/.vc and managed by ShinyHunters) was operating as a transparent network marketplace for cybercriminals to buy, sell and trade contraband, including stolen material. access devices, means of identification, hacking tools, breached databases and other illegal services,” the FBI wrote on the website.
ShinyHunters, another BreachForums administrator, did not respond to a Telegram message requesting comment.
At this point, it is unclear how the authorities took control of the Telegram channels. One possibility is that the FBI arrested Baphomet and took control of his devices, or that Telegram responded to a legal order from authorities.
Telegram did not respond to a request for comment.
Fitzpatrick, the former administrator of BreachForums, He pleaded guilty to federal charges last July.
UPDATE, May 15 at 4:49 pm ET: This story has been updated to add the FBI’s no comment.
