Deer.io takedown: Russian citizen jailed for selling stolen information that is personal of US citizens online
A Russian citizen has become jailed for 30 months for his role in selling stolen plastic card information and various data accustomed to fuel further criminal activity.
Kirill Victorovich Firsov, 30, from Moscow, acted since the administrator of a website that provided stolen sensitive information along with 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, the now-defunct website – Deer.io – hosted a projected 2,000 illicit online stores making it approximately $17 million during its seven-year operation.
It sold information including gamer account logins, plus the information that is personal of US citizens not limited by names, current addresses, contact numbers, and at times Social Security numbers.
Deer.io was launched as small as October 2013 and was banned following Firsov’s arrest in March 2020 after an operation in which the FBI purchased 1,100 gamer accounts along with the information that is personal for upwards of 3,600 Americans.
The prosecutor asserted that Firsov knew deer.io was selling stolen and counterfeit accounts as he built the platform.
“Also, deer.io was easily searchable, so anyone – including Firsov – could search the system for stolen US accounts and knowledge,” the making reads.
“Just about the most sold stolen accounts, deer.io hasn’t been cloaked in secrecy and required no special password for access, because everything was deplete all of your Russia, and American law enforcement 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 message – conducting criminal activity external the United States does not necessarily mean that you are out from reach.
“The FBI will identify and world market darknet pursue criminal actors in the cyber-sphere, wherever they operate, and work to bring the crooks to justice inside a United States court.”