The Dutch National Police has sent out thousands of emails, hundreds of letters, and conducted “stop calls” to former members of the notorious hacking and data leak forum RaidForums. The police are urging these former members to delete any stolen or traded data they may have downloaded and warning them that their illegal cyber activities are being monitored.
The members were identified by analyzing the seized RaidForums forum database, which contained members’ email addresses, registration IP addresses, and the IP addresses used when posting and downloading files from the site. This data can be used to identify members and their involvement in the site.
RaidForums was a popular and notorious hacking and data leak forum known for hosting, leaking, and selling stolen data obtained from breached organizations. Threat actors who frequented the forum would hack into websites or access exposed database servers to steal customer information, which they would then attempt to sell or distribute to other threat actors.
In many cases, the stolen data would be leaked for free on RaidForums to gain reputation among the community.
The Dutch Police’s email, titled “Police warning to Raidforums users,” asks RaidForums members to delete any stolen or traded data they downloaded, warning that “You are less anonymous online than you think.” The police warn that possession of leaked data is a criminal offence and urge users to stop participating in online activities such as trading leaked data. The police emphasize the consequences of illegal cyber activities, including fines, community service, imprisonment, a criminal record, and confiscation of electronic devices.
Many of the members of these data leak communities are minors who are enticed by the thrill of hacking into networks and websites and being able to share their activities with a community of like-minded peers.
The Dutch Police has been conducting “stop calls” with minors involved in RaidForums to provide information about the possible consequences of cybercrime, as these conversations are more effective than a letter for this target group. The Dutch Police also created an outreach program called GameChangers to deter young people from getting involved in cybercrime and instead turning to a white hat career.
