Department of Justice seizes illicit marketplace PopeyeTools

The United States’ Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced that PopeyeTools, an illegal marketplace that sold stolen credit cards and tools for carrying out cybercrime, is taken offline. Three alleged administrators are in custody.

PopeyeTools came about around 2016 and served as an online marketplace dedicated to selling sensitive financial information and illicit tools and services to commit cybercrime, including malicious software like ransomware and phishing panels.

Some of the stolen information included bank account, credit card, and debit card numbers and associated information for conducting transactions. Since its inception, PopeyeTools has sold personally identifiable information of at least 227,000 victims and generated over $1.7 million in revenue.

To attract members, PopeyeTools promised to refund or replace purchased credit cards that were no longer valid at the time of sale. In addition, the marketplace offered tools which customers could use to check the validity of bank account and credit card numbers that were being sold on the website.

The Department of Justice seized three domains, which hosted the marketplace for years. Furthermore, an amount of approximately $283,000 in cryptocurrencies was seized from a cryptocurrency account that was controlled by one of the suspects.

Three supposed administrators, all Pakistani nationals, were arrested. They are being charged with conspiracy to commit access device fraud, trafficking access devices, and solicitation of another person for the purposes of offering access devices

If convicted, all three suspects face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison on each of the offenses.

“Today’s announcement of the takedown of the PopeyeTools domains, the criminal charges against its operators, and the seizure of cryptocurrency is yet another example of the department’s ‘all-tools’ approach to combating cybercrime. Working with our domestic and international partners, the Criminal Division is committed to disrupting illicit enterprises through every available means, including by taking over their websites, charging culpable individuals, and seizing their illicit proceeds,” Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri said in a statement.

Special Agent in Charge Matthew Miraglia of the FBI Buffalo Field Office said the dismantling of PopeyeTools was “a direct result of the FBI's dedication to weaken cybercrime”.