Last year, Americans reported over $20 billion in losses to cybercrime, a 26 percent single-year increase, the FBI said.
Leading the takedown dubbed “Operation Riptide” were cybercrime units from France’s National Directorate of the Judicial Police and the Dutch National Police. Authorities in Ukraine, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and Luxembourg also assisted.
The Boston division of the FBI and the agency’s national Cyber Division have collaborated with foreign law enforcement on the takedown since 2021, providing technical assistance and information sharing, the FBI said.
The FBI is “proud” to have participated in the “takedown of this malicious service,” Ted E. Docks, special agent in charge of the Boston division, said in a statement.
“This operation has dealt a significant blow to a business that serviced, shielded, and catered to cybercriminals,” Docks said. “Disruptions like this one matter because it’s not just removing a service, it’s imposing risk and consequences on cyber criminals by injecting uncertainty, increasing their operational costs, and forcing them to operate under a constant fear that their next connection or transaction could be compromised by law enforcement.”
“Let me be clear: anonymity does not grant immunity,” Docks added. “Our goal is to make cybercrime harder, riskier, and far less profitable for those behind it”.
First VPN Service was in operation from about 2014, allowing users to route internet traffic through servers in an estimated 27 countries, the FBI said. Three of the servers were located in the United States in California, Florida, and New York.
The service was also used for scanning activity, botnets, denial of service attacks, scams, and hacking, according to the FBI.
Visitors to First VPN Service’s website will now find “a seizure banner,” stating that the website has been seized by law enforcement.
The service was primarily advertised “in known criminal dark web forums,” and was used by prominent Russian-language online forums that provide marketplaces for cybercriminals to buy and sell unauthorized access to computer systems, stolen personal identifying information, hacking tools, and contraband, according to the FBI.
Tonya Alanez can be reached at tonya.alanez@globe.com. Follow her @talanez.
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