Joker’s Stash Carding Forum Announces Closure
On January 18, 2021, the operators of Joker’s Stash, one of the largest carding forums on the internet, announced that the site would cease operations on February 15, 2021. After this date, all servers will be wiped and backups deleted. This news was posted both on Joker’s Stash itself and on other platforms where the site was frequently advertised.
Joker’s Stash has been active since the fall of 2014, regularly publishing batches of stolen payment card data. These data sets could be used for fraudulent transactions, both card-present (CP) and card-not-present (CNP). The site has often been mentioned in media reports and expert analyses, as it occasionally released massive dumps containing millions of compromised bank card records. For example, recent incidents include the BIGBADABOOM-III dump, linked to the breach of the American convenience store chain Wawa, and a major leak of credit and debit cards issued by banks and financial institutions in South Korea and the United States.
It’s worth noting that in December 2020, law enforcement agencies managed to gain control over several of the site’s servers, causing disruptions to Joker’s Stash’s operations. Although the site’s administrators stated that only external servers were seized and that restoring operations would not take long, the incident damaged the site’s reputation.
Decline in Activity and Quality
According to cybersecurity company Intel 471, in October, the individual allegedly running the site announced that he had contracted COVID-19 and spent a week in the hospital. His illness affected the site’s forums, the supply of new stolen cards, and other operations. Intel 471 also observed that customers increasingly complained about the declining quality of the card data being sold.
After the administrator’s illness, the site’s activity dropped significantly, as shown in a chart created by Gemini Advisory. While Joker’s Stash was inactive, competitors took the opportunity to publish more CNP data.
Unclear Reasons for Shutdown
In its announcement about the upcoming closure, the Joker’s Stash administration did not provide details or explain the reasons behind the decision. It is possible that law enforcement, which had previously promised to continue pursuing the site’s operators and users, is closing in on those running the forum.
Analysts at Gemini Advisory estimate that during its existence, the marketplace generated over a billion dollars in illegal profits, although some of this money also went to individual sellers.