Darknet News: November 2023

U.S. Treasury Department Sanctions Sinbad Mixer

• Background: The U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctioned the Sinbad cryptocurrency mixing service for its involvement in money laundering activities. The Lazarus Group, a hacking entity sponsored by North Korea, used Sinbad in the laundering of cryptocurrencies obtained from several major heists.
• Details of Illegal Activities: Sinbad was implicated in laundering portions of $100 million stolen from Atomic Wallet users in June 2023, and $620 million from Axie Infinity in March 2022. Additionally, funds from a $100 million heist from Harmony’s Horizon Bridge in June 2022 were also laundered through Sinbad.
• Other Uses: Besides Lazarus Group, Sinbad was reportedly used for laundering funds by individuals involved in child abuse platforms and darknet marketplaces.
• Consequences: The sanction by the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) included the seizure of Sinbad’s clearnet domain, rendering its onion domain non-operational. The Deputy Secretary of the Treasury emphasized the seriousness of consequences for services enabling criminal activities like money laundering​
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SSNDOB Marketplace Admin Imprisoned

• Conviction of Vitalii Chychasov: Vitalii Chychasov, a 37-year-old Ukrainian national, was sentenced to eight years in federal prison for administering SSNDOB Marketplace, a platform used for selling stolen personal information.
• Operation Revenue: The illegal operation reportedly generated $19 million from the sale of personal information of millions of individuals over several years.
• Investigation and Evidence: Law enforcement agencies seized several domains related to SSNDOB Marketplace and made undercover purchases using Bitcoin. Blockchain analysis traced transactions to Chychasov’s accounts on HitBTC and Bitfinnex. The IP address used for these accounts was also linked to SSNDOB’s servers.
• Arrest and Guilty Plea: Chychasov was arrested in March 2022, extradited to the US in July 2022, and pleaded guilty in July 2023 to charges including conspiracy to commit access device fraud and trafficking in unauthorized access devices.
• Sentence and Forfeiture: In addition to the prison sentence, Chychasov was ordered to forfeit $5 million gained from operating the SSNDOB Marketplace