Deer.io takedown: Russian citizen jailed for selling stolen sensitive information of US citizens online
A Russian citizen is jailed for 30 months for his role in selling stolen debit card information along with other data utilized to fuel further criminal activity.
Kirill Victorovich Firsov, 30, from Moscow, acted as the administrator of a web site that provided stolen personal data along with 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 nearly 2,000 illicit websites making it approximately $17 million during its seven-year operation.
It sold information including gamer account logins, as well as the sensitive information of US citizens not on a names, current addresses, contact numbers, at times Social Security numbers.
Deer.io was launched around October 2013 and was banned following Firsov’s arrest in March 2020 after an operation in which the FBI purchased 1,100 gamer accounts and also the information that is personal for more than 3,600 Americans.
The prosecutor asserted that Firsov knew deer.io was selling stolen and counterfeit accounts because 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 discharge reads.
“Eventhough it sold stolen accounts, deer.io isn’t cloaked in secrecy and required no special password for access, because everything was exhaust Russia, and American police force could gain no foothold.”
‘Sending a message’
“The FBI will pursue cybercriminals globally,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge, Suzanne Turner.
“Today’s sentence sends a note – conducting criminal activity from outside the United States does not mean you might be out from reach.
“The FBI will identify and pursue criminal actors in the cyber-sphere, no matter where they operate, and World market Onion work to bring those to justice within a United States court.”