US Authorities Shut Down Rydox Hacker Marketplace

At the end of last week, law enforcement officials announced the takedown of the Rydox marketplace (rydox[.]cc), a platform where stolen personal data and tools for fraud were traded. Three alleged administrators of the site have already been charged.

According to the US Department of Justice, as part of the Rydox shutdown, three citizens of Kosovo suspected of being marketplace administrators were arrested. Two were detained by Kosovan law enforcement and are now awaiting extradition to the United States, while the third suspect was arrested in Albania, where charges and legal proceedings are expected to take place.

All three have been charged with aggravated identity theft, access device fraud, and money laundering.

Investigators report that Rydox had been operating since at least February 2016 and had more than 18,000 users. The marketplace sold stolen personal information, bank card data, and account credentials linked to thousands of US residents.

In total, more than 7,600 illegal transactions were conducted on Rydox, generating at least $230,000 in criminal proceeds. Additionally, Rydox charged registered users a one-time fee (ranging from $200 to $500 in cryptocurrency) for authorized seller status. These authorized sellers received 60% of each sale, while the remaining 40% went to the marketplace administrators.

Law enforcement estimates that at least 321,372 products for cybercriminals were sold on the site, including stolen names, addresses, Social Security numbers, stolen credentials, bank card data, ready-made phishing landing pages, logs, and even tutorials (such as guides on sending spam).

As part of the operation to dismantle the marketplace, US authorities obtained a court order to seize the rydox[.]cc domain and, together with Malaysian police, seized the marketplace’s servers. It was also reported that approximately $225,000 in cryptocurrency held in accounts controlled by Rydox administrators was confiscated.

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