Russian and Kazakhstani men arrested and indicted for running dark web marketplaces

Two men have been arrested in Miami for running dark web criminal marketplaces. If found guilty, they could face a 20-year prison sentence.

Alex Khodyrev, a 35-year-old man from Kazakhstan, and Pavel Kublitskii, a 37-year-old man from Russia, allegedly worked as the main administrators of WWH Club and several related sister websites, all of which functioned as illegal marketplaces, forums, and training centers to facilitate online crime.

The marketplaces brought buyers and vendors of personally identifiable information (PII), credit card and bank account information, computer passwords, and other personal and sensitive information together. The arrest warrant for the two men describes the WWH Club as “like a cross between eBay and Reddit that exists for the sole purpose of promoting and facilitating crime.”

“WWH is known for including members who specialize in different facets of the criminal underground and use the WWH platform to work together towards a common goal of generating ill-gotten gains,” the arrest warrant says.

According to the United States Department of Justice, the forums of WWH Club and its sister websites discussed the best practices for committing fraud, launching cyberattacks, and evading law enforcement agencies while committing these crimes. WWH Club also offered online courses that taught aspiring hackers how to commit fraud.

“Prior to being arrested and indicted, Khodyrev and Kublitskii had been living in Miami for the past two years while secretly continuing to administer WWH Club and its sister dark web marketplaces, forums, and schools,” the Department of Justice says in a press release.

The WWH Club was popular all around the world. Last year, the marketplace had approximately 353,000 users. Khodyrev and Kublitskii earned their income by acting as the websites’ administrators and collecting membership fees, tuition fees, and advertising revenues. How much money they supposedly made running the illegal marketplaces, the Department doesn’t say.

Both men are charged with conspiracy to commit access device fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. If a court convicts both suspects, they each face a penalty of 20 years in federal prison. Furthermore, both men had to forfeit the luxurious sports car they drove: a 2023 Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG sports utility vehicle and a 2020 Cadillac CT5 Sport sedan.

According to security researchers at Flashpoint, the WWH Club is still online and operational. “In addition, it appears that WWH Club and its other administrators are attempting to distance themselves from Kublitskii and Khodyrev, claiming that they were only moderators and did not have administrative rights to the forum,” they say.

Flashpoint states that the arrests of Kublitskii and Khodyrev is a victory, but stresses that the fight against cybercrime continues. Cybersecurity experts recommend organizations to invest in threat intelligence services to protect themselves against “the machinations of illicit forums and marketplaces.”