Skip to content
Quick exit
  • Cymraeg
  • Reporting SARs
Leading the UK's fight to cut serious and organised crime
  • Who we are
    • Our mission
    • Our people
    • Our leadership
    • Governance and transparency
    • Inclusion, diversity and equality
    • Publications
  • What we do
    • What we investigate
    • Border vulnerabilities
    • Bribery, corruption and sanctions evasion
    • Cyber crime
    • Child sexual abuse and exploitation
    • Drug trafficking
    • Illegal firearms
    • Fraud
    • Kidnap and extortion
    • Modern slavery and human trafficking
    • Money laundering and illicit finance
    • Organised immigration crime
    • Operation Stovewood: Rotherham child sexual abuse investigation
    • How we work
    • Intelligence: enhancing the picture of serious organised crime affecting the UK
    • Investigating and disrupting the highest risk serious and organised criminals
    • Providing specialist capabilities for law enforcement
    • Supporting victims and survivors
  • News
    • All news
  • Careers
    • How to join the NCA
    • Applying and onboarding
    • Current vacancies
    • A day in the life
    • Benefits and support
  • Most Wanted
  • Contact us
    • Verify an NCA Officer
    • Complaints
  • Home >
  • News >
  • Hacking forum taken offline and UK suspect arrested

Share this page:

Share this page:

News

Hacking forum taken offline and UK suspect arrested

  • Cyber crime

An online forum that provided criminals with stolen personal data has been taken down in an international operation, which has also seen the NCA arrest a suspected site controller.

Under Operation Tourniquet, the National Crime Agency and partners in the US, Europol and four other countries, took action to close ‘RaidForums’ and carried out a number of linked arrests.

One of those was a 21 year-old from Croydon, who the NCA arrested at his home in March.

He is suspected of being an administrator on the website and has since been released under investigation.

At the time of his arrest, officers seized £5,000 in cash, thousands in US dollars and put a freeze on crypto assets worth more than half a million dollars.

RaidForums started in 2015 and gained prominence in criminal circles by offering access to high-profile database leaks, which could be used to enable further crimes such as fraud.

The compromised data included information stolen from UK companies, some of which related to credit cards, bank accounts, usernames and passwords.

Investigators from the NCA found that the forum was operating a membership scheme where users of the site paid up to ten euros for access to chatrooms that allowed the exchange of links, photographs and data linked to cyber-crime.

They suspected that administrators of the website based in the UK were helping to manage its membership, and also to launder payments to the site through a separate – seemingly legitimate - online business.

A spokesperson from the NCA, said: “RaidForums had developed into one of the largest hacking forums online where hacking tips and stolen data were frequently exchanged.

“Data from some of the most high profile hacking incidents in recent years could be located on the site and often the victims - real people, found themselves vulnerable to further crime like fraud.

“The NCA works with international partners to identify, disrupt and apprehend those who profit from cyber-crime and is committed to tackling this threat as it evolves.”

12 April 2022

Latest from twitter

Share this page:

TOP ˄
0370 496 7622
NCA general enquiries or to verify an NCA officer, available 24/7
Click CEOP logo: Advice, Help, Report
  • Who we are

  • Our mission
  • What we do

  • How we investigate
  • How we work
  • News

  • Most wanted

  • Careers

  • A day in the life
  • Current vacancies
  • Contact us

  • Operation Stovewood
  • Suspicious activity reports
  • Verify an NCA officer
  • Complaints

Follow us

  • Sitemap
  • Privacy and Cookie Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Publications
  • Accessibility statement
© Crown Copyright
© Crown Copyright