Deer.io takedown: Russian citizen jailed for selling stolen private data of US citizens online
A Russian citizen has been jailed for 30 months for his role in selling stolen credit-based card information and various data utilized to fuel further criminal activity.
Kirill Victorovich Firsov, 30, from Moscow, acted for the reason that administrator of an online site that provided stolen sensitive information and various services to be played with for cybercrime, a US Department of Justice release states.
One-stop cybercrime platform
As previously reported by The Daily Swig, World Market Url the now-defunct website – Deer.io – hosted approximately 2,000 illicit online retailers which made approximately $17 million during its seven-year operation.
It sold information including gamer account logins, as well as the private data of US citizens not on a names, current addresses, telephone numbers, as well as at times Social Security numbers.
Deer.io was released since October 2013 and was de-activate following Firsov’s arrest in March 2020 after an operation through which the FBI purchased 1,100 gamer accounts along with the personal information more than 3,600 Americans.
The prosecutor asserted that Firsov knew deer.io was selling stolen and counterfeit accounts while he built the platform.
“Also, deer.io was easily searchable, so anyone – including Firsov – could search the woking platform for stolen US accounts and data,” the making reads.
“Even though it sold stolen accounts, deer.io was not cloaked in secrecy and required no special password for access, because everything was run out of Russia, and American police officers could gain no foothold.”
‘Sending a message’
“The FBI will pursue cybercriminals worldwide,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge, Suzanne Turner.
“Today’s sentence sends a communication – conducting criminal activity external the United States is not to mean that you are away from reach.
“The FBI will identify and pursue criminal actors in the cyber-sphere, wherever they operate, and try to bring them to justice in a United States court.”