An international law enforcement operation led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Europol has dismantled LeakBase, one of the internet’s largest platforms used for trading stolen data and hacking tools.
Authorities said the forum had more than 142,000 registered members and over 215,000 messages, making it a major marketplace for cybercriminal activity.
According to the FBI, investigators seized user accounts, posts, payment details, private messages and IP logs from the platform as part of the operation.
Coordinated operation across 14 countries
The takedown took place on March 3 and 4 through coordinated actions by law enforcement agencies in 14 countries.
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Authorities replaced the website with seizure notices, issued warnings to forum users and collected additional digital evidence linked to the platform’s activity.
Search warrants and arrests were carried out in several countries, including the United States, Australia, Belgium, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain and the United Kingdom.
Officials said the operation disrupted a large international network that enabled criminals to trade stolen personal data, banking information and account credentials.
Cybercrime risks linked to crypto sector
Although the investigation did not specifically target cryptocurrency accounts, cybercrime forums have previously been used to distribute leaked data linked to crypto platforms.
Security incidents involving leaked data and social engineering attacks have also affected the crypto sector in recent years.
The year 2025 brought a report which stated that cybercriminals paid bribes to overseas customer support contractors because they wanted to gain access to Coinbase internal systems which resulted in the theft of user data that scammers and extortionists could use.
The hackers who attacked LockBit dark web affiliate panel revealed thousands of Bitcoin addresses which the ransomware group used for their operations. The authorities claim that the LeakBase takedown operation represents an important achievement which will help them dismantle international cybercrime networks while stopping the ongoing exploitation of compromised data.
