Deer.io takedown: Russian citizen jailed for selling stolen personal data of US citizens online
A Russian citizen have been jailed for 30 months for his role in selling stolen credit card information along with data employed to fuel further criminal activity.
Kirill Victorovich Firsov, 30, from Moscow, acted as the administrator of an internet site that provided stolen private data and other services to use 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 an estimated 2,000 illicit internet retailers making it approximately $17 million during its seven-year operation.
It sold information including gamer account logins, plus the sensitive information of US citizens not confined to names, current addresses, cellular phone, and also at times Social Security numbers.
Deer.io premiered 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 plus the private data 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 data,” the production reads.
“Eventhough it sold stolen accounts, deer.io hasn’t been cloaked in secrecy and required no special password for access, because everything was use up all your Russia, and American the police could gain no foothold.”
‘Sending a message’
“The FBI will pursue cybercriminals throughout the world market url (wiki.gutmenschen.org),” said FBI Special Agent in Charge, Suzanne Turner.
“Today’s sentence sends a message – conducting criminal activity from outside the United States does not mean you happen to be out from reach.
“The FBI will identify and pursue criminal actors inside cyber-sphere, where ever they operate, and work to bring the theifs to justice in a United States court.”