US investigators have gained access to the database of “Breachforums”, believed to be the largest platform for data theft. The FBI used undercover agents to communicate with the alleged operator of the site, Pompompurin, who was later arrested. Baphomet, the second administrator of the site, warned members that the FBI had possibly seen their past activities. Breachforums had over 340,000 members as of last week, according to the Justice Department. The site was launched after its predecessor, “Raidforum”, was closed down in 2022.
Officials discovered that Pompompurin was linked to the 20-year-old New Yorker because he was active on the Raidforum. The FBI had seized the database of the Raidforum. The investigation revealed that Pompompurin had used his personal Gmail address, which was also seized by the FBI.
Pompompurin’s alleged involvement in uploading the database of compromised Mastercard information to Breachforums led to his arrest. The data had leaked in August 2019, contained email addresses, IP addresses, names, phone numbers, and sometimes credit card data. The operator now faces a maximum of five years in prison.
Upon his arrest, the fear of authorities accessing the site led to Breachforums’ closure. Baphomet advised members not to trust anyone in terms of their own operational security. The FBI had obtained a back-end database for Breachforums, as per a US judge’s affidavit as part of the criminal complaint. This is an ongoing investigation that marks a significant win for US law enforcement.
