The National Police in Spain have arrested a 19-year-old male in Barcelona on suspicion of being a major cybercriminal. This individual is accused of stealing and attempting to sell a vast quantity of personal data, amounting to 64 million records obtained from breaches across nine different companies. The serious nature of these actions has led to the teen now facing charges related to involvement in cybercrime, unauthorized access and disclosure of private data, and multiple privacy violations.
The police initiated an investigation into the activities of this cybercriminal in June of the current year. This action was prompted after authorities became aware of significant data breaches that had occurred at several unnamed firms. The official police announcement stated, “The cybercriminal accessed nine different companies where he obtained millions of private personal records that he later sold online.” This confirmed the severity and widespread nature of the alleged data theft.
Through their investigation, law enforcement eventually successfully located the suspect in the town of Igualada, which is near Barcelona. At the time of their confrontation and subsequent arrest, the authorities were able to confirm that he was in possession of a massive trove of 64 million private records. This collection of stolen information was highly sensitive and comprehensive, including full names, home addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, DNI numbers, and IBAN codes.
The scope of the breach and the total number of unique individuals whose information was compromised remains unclear at this time. What is known, however, is the extent of the suspect’s efforts to monetize the stolen data. The police have stated that the detainee actively attempted to sell the information on various hacker forums online. To do this, he utilized six different user accounts and operated under five distinct pseudonyms in an attempt to evade detection and complete the sales.
The arrest of the 19-year-old took place last week. During the operation, police agents executed a search and seizure, confiscating several key items of evidence. This included computer equipment used for the illicit activities and cryptocurrency wallets. These wallets contained funds that the police believe were directly generated from the sales of the stolen data, further linking the suspect to the organized cybercrime operation.
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