Millions defrauded in global cyber scam - how to check if YOUR details have been stolen

As part of the investigation, the National Crime Agency identified hundreds of UK-based users of the platform. Dozens of them were today arrested in co-ordinated raids by the NCA and police forces across the country.

Twenty-four people were arrested in the UK, including two men, aged 34 and 36, who were detained by the NCA in Grimsby on suspicion of Computer Misuse Act and fraud offences.

The bust involved 17 countries and was led by the FBI and Dutch National Police.

In total, there were around 120 arrests and over 200 searches carried out across the globe.

Rob Jones, NCA Director General NECC and Threat Leadership, said: “Behind every cyber criminal or fraudster is the technical infrastructure that provides them with the tools to execute their attacks and the means to benefit financially from their offending.

“Genesis Market was a prime example of such a service and was one of the most significant platforms on the criminal market. Its removal will be a huge blow to criminals across the globe.

“Targeting this infrastructure is at the core of the NCA’s efforts to disrupt the highest harm offenders and protect the public from those seeking to infiltrate their lives, stealing their identities and their money.

Genesis Market was a go-to service for criminals seeking to defraud victims, hosting 80 million credentials and digital fingerprints stolen from over two million people.

It traded in digital identities, selling ‘bots’ that contained information harvested from victim devices, which had been infected using malicious attacks.

These attacks were conducted against both members of the public and companies operating in a variety of sectors.

The bots would give criminals access to all the data pertaining to an individual identity, such as cookies, saved logins and autofill form data. This information was collected in real time, meaning the buyers would be notified of any change of passwords etc.

Criminals could use this access to steal from victims, either by directly moving money out of an account, or using the credentials to pay for goods and services for their own benefit.

It’s likely that criminals would use information about a victim they had obtained from their various accounts, such as interests, names of friends and family, and personal circumstance, to socially engineer them for further offences.

This process sees a fraudster using the information to build trust with a victim, then manipulating them into handing over money voluntarily, via romance or investment frauds.

Members of the public can check whether their data has been compromised and accessed by criminals on Genesis Market by visiting https://www.politie.nl/checkyourhack and inputting their email address.

Those who have been affected are encouraged to report this, either to Action Fraud via their online portal, or Police Scotland by calling 101 if you live in Scotland.