The US Department of Justice has sentenced a website administrator for selling personal data to 24 million Americans.
Ukrainian citizen Vitaliy Chichasov, 37, was sentenced to 8 years in prison in the United States for creating and managing an online platform that sold the personal data of millions of Americans.
Arrested in March 2022 while attempting to enter Hungary, Chichasov was then extradited to the United States, and in June, during an international operation by US and Cypriot law enforcement agencies, the SSNDOB darknet market was disabled .
In July 2023, Vitaly Chichasov pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud using access devices and trading unauthorized access devices through a special closed platform. A second SSNDOB administrator, Sergey Pugach, was also arrested in May 2022.
The platform, known as SSNDOB (Social Security Number and Date of Birth), specialized in selling sensitive information, including names, dates of birth, and social security numbers. The site generated more than $19 million in revenue and reached approximately 24 million people in the United States. As part of the trial, Chichasov agreed to the confiscation of $5 million received from the activities of his network of websites.
Court documents show that Chichasov and his co-conspirators advertised their services on darknet hacker forums, provided support to clients, and closely monitored operations on their websites. To ensure anonymity, the platform's servers were located in different countries, and customers could only use digital payments for payment.
In addition to social security numbers, the SSNDOB marketplace also sold email addresses, passwords, and credit card numbers. According to blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis, the platform had links to other well-known markets for stolen data, including the large darknet marketplace Joker's Stash, which was closed in 2021, trading credit card data.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, information sold through SSNDOB may have been used to commit various types of fraud, including tax fraud, unemployment benefits, credit and credit card fraud. Investigators also note that the platform's activity increased significantly at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, when it began paying out public funds to support American businesses and families in response to the crisis.
Ukrainian citizen Vitaliy Chichasov, 37, was sentenced to 8 years in prison in the United States for creating and managing an online platform that sold the personal data of millions of Americans.
Arrested in March 2022 while attempting to enter Hungary, Chichasov was then extradited to the United States, and in June, during an international operation by US and Cypriot law enforcement agencies, the SSNDOB darknet market was disabled .
In July 2023, Vitaly Chichasov pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud using access devices and trading unauthorized access devices through a special closed platform. A second SSNDOB administrator, Sergey Pugach, was also arrested in May 2022.
The platform, known as SSNDOB (Social Security Number and Date of Birth), specialized in selling sensitive information, including names, dates of birth, and social security numbers. The site generated more than $19 million in revenue and reached approximately 24 million people in the United States. As part of the trial, Chichasov agreed to the confiscation of $5 million received from the activities of his network of websites.
Court documents show that Chichasov and his co-conspirators advertised their services on darknet hacker forums, provided support to clients, and closely monitored operations on their websites. To ensure anonymity, the platform's servers were located in different countries, and customers could only use digital payments for payment.
In addition to social security numbers, the SSNDOB marketplace also sold email addresses, passwords, and credit card numbers. According to blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis, the platform had links to other well-known markets for stolen data, including the large darknet marketplace Joker's Stash, which was closed in 2021, trading credit card data.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, information sold through SSNDOB may have been used to commit various types of fraud, including tax fraud, unemployment benefits, credit and credit card fraud. Investigators also note that the platform's activity increased significantly at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, when it began paying out public funds to support American businesses and families in response to the crisis.
