U.S. and European law enforcement have seized the database from LeakBase. Prosecutors have described the site as one of the world’s largest online forums for cybercriminals, used for sharing stolen passwords and hacking tools.
Authorities seized the site earlier this week. They report its database contained over 142,000 members and more than 215,000 messages exchanged between them. LeakBase had been operating since 2021, maintaining a continuously updated archive of hacked databases. This archive included hundreds of millions of account credentials, credit card numbers, and banking account and routing information.
This takedown is the latest action targeting sites that trade in stolen credentials. Such data is increasingly used to break into people’s accounts to steal data and cryptocurrency.
Europol stated that around 100 enforcement actions were taken worldwide. These included measures against the top 37 active users on the forum. Earlier on Wednesday, the FBI redirected the site’s domain to servers controlled by the agency, effectively shutting it down. LeakBase now displays a seizure notice, indicating the forum’s contents, private messages, and IP address logs have been preserved.
According to an interview with the FBI’s cyber official Brett Leatherman, the investigation resulted in over 13 arrests, searches, and interviews with 33 suspects. The operation also captured the forum’s entire database.