Who knew that the Netherlands was such a hotbed of cybercrime? This week, the police reported:
Barendrecht – In the international investigation “Operation Cookie Monster”, a 32-year-old Dutchman who lives in Brazil was arrested after intensive investigation. This happened on Tuesday 18 July in Barendrecht. Because the man was in complete restraint after his arrest, his arrest could not be communicated earlier due to research interests. The suspect was brought before the examining magistrate on Monday 24 July. He has determined that he will be detained for two weeks longer.
The man was at the top of the list of suspects of the Rotterdam Cybercrime Team in the investigation into the Genesis Market. On the Genesis Market, the site that was taken offline by the FBI on April 4, millions of user profiles containing online fingerprints were sold. It allowed cybercriminals to take on someone’s online life. For example, it was possible to order and pay for things in web shops in the name of victims or, in certain cases, even to plunder entire bank, crypto or investment accounts.
Hundreds of searches were carried out worldwide at the beginning of April. In the Netherlands, 17 arrests were made and 23 searches were carried out. During the investigation, the 32-year-old man also came into the picture. He topped the list of Dutch suspects because he allegedly traded on a large scale at the Genesis Market. Ruben van Well of the Cybercrime team: “We suspect that this man has spent tens of thousands of euros on the market and is therefore the largest Dutch user of the Genesis Market and may even be among the top 10 largest users worldwide. We suspect the man of having duped a lot of people with his actions. There are reports of people who have been robbed for tens of thousands of euros. With the arrest of this suspect, we think we have made a major step in this investigation.
More arrests
Van Well: “After the site was taken offline, the users of the platform were already warned that more arrests would follow. Together with the FBI, we have a wealth of information about the buyers of the market. You always leave traces on the internet, even if you use a VPN and if payment is made via crytocurrency. The investigation is still in full swing and more arrests are not ruled out.’
Check your hack
On www.politie.nl/checkjehack, the police have made it possible to check whether your data has been offered on the Genesis Market. Since April 4, 4.4 million people have done the check. More than 11,800 people received an email that their computer was indeed infected.
“Normally, we always advise people in the event of identity fraud to immediately replace all their passwords. But this malware is structured in such a way that this alone does not help,’ says Van Well. ‘The criminal who has purchased your data will then simply receive an update of your new password. If you haven’t done the check yet, do it now.” Stressed Van Well. At https://www.politie.nl/onderwerpen/online-fingerprint-fraude.htmlyou can read more information about how to get the malicious software off your computer and how you can protect yourself even better online.
h/t, Risky Biz News