Dark web counterfeit hubs shut down

Two of the largest dark web markets, AlphaBay and Hansa, were shut down last week following a takedown operation.

Led by the FBI, the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and the Dutch national police with the support of Europol, two operations shut down the marketplaces.

Europol has supported the investigation for a number of years and, with the help of internet security company Bitdefender, the police agency provided Dutch authorities with an investigation lead into Hansa in 2016.

According to a press release from Europol, the agency and its partners supported the Dutch police in taking over the Hansa marketplace on June 20 and monitoring criminal activities on it until it was shut down on July 20.

Before its takedown, AlphaBay reached over 200,000 users and 40,000 vendors, and provided over 100,000 listings for stolen and fraudulent identification documents and access devices, counterfeit goods, malware and other computer hacking tools, firearms and fraudulent services.

In the meantime, an FBI and DEA-led operation, called Bayonet, was able to identify the creator and administrator of AlphaBay, a Canadian citizen living in Thailand.

Earlier in July, the main suspect was arrested in Thailand and the site taken down.

Rob Wainwright, the executive director of Europol, said: “By acting together on a global basis the law enforcement community has sent a clear message that we have the means to identify criminality and strike back, even in areas of the dark web. There are more of these operations to come.”