Vitalii Chychasov, a Ukrainian citizen, faced justice in the U.S. as he received an eight-year prison term for his involvement in managing SSNDOB, a notorious marketplace that illicitly sold sensitive personal data belonging to millions of Americans. Chychasov’s arrest in March and subsequent extradition stemmed from his administration of the platform, which specialized in peddling private information such as Social Security numbers, birthdates, email addresses, and credit card details. The marketplace, shut down in June prior year, orchestrated transactions worth $19 million and impacted an estimated 24 million individuals across the United States.
Court records unveiled Chychasov’s activities, including advertising the sites on dark web criminal forums, delivering customer support, and vigilantly monitoring website operations, particularly tracking buyer transactions and deposits into their accounts. To maintain anonymity, Chychasov utilized servers across multiple countries and mandated digital payments for buyers, leaving investigators to navigate a complex network that was designed to obscure the origins of these illegal transactions. SSNDOB’s offerings extended beyond Social Security numbers, encompassing email addresses, passwords, and credit card information, as revealed by blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis.
This platform had connections to other illicit marketplaces, including the infamous Joker’s Stash, which dealt in stolen credit card data before its shutdown in early 2021. The U.S. Attorney’s Office highlighted the potential for varied fraudulent activities facilitated by SSNDOB’s data, including tax fraud and credit card misuse, which escalated during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, aligning with increased government financial support distributed to businesses and families, sparking a surge in illicit sales.
