justice.gov District of New Mexico | U.S. Government Seizes Online Marketplaces Selling Fraudulent Identity Documents Used in Cybercrime Schemes | United States Department of Justice
Thursday, August 28, 2025

The operators of VerifTools produced and sold counterfeit driver’s licenses, passports, and other identification documents that could be used to bypass identity verification systems and gain unauthorized access to online accounts.

ALBUQUERQUE – The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico announced today the seizure of two marketplace domains and one blog used to sell fraudulent identity documents to cybercriminals worldwide. The operators of VerifTools produced and sold counterfeit driver’s licenses, passports, and other identification documents that could be used to bypass identity verification systems and gain unauthorized access to online accounts.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) began investigating in August 2022 after discovering a conspiracy to use stolen identity information to access cryptocurrency accounts. The investigation revealed that VerifTools offered counterfeit identification documents for all 50 U.S. states and multiple foreign countries for as little as nine dollars, payable in cryptocurrency.

The FBI used the VerifTools marketplace to generate and purchase counterfeit New Mexico driver’s licenses, which were paid for with cryptocurrency. The FBI has identified the equivalent of approximately $6.4 million of illicit proceeds linked to the VerifTools marketplace. The following counterfeit documents are an example of New Mexico driver’s licenses obtained from VerifTools.

“The internet is not a refuge for criminals. If you build or sell tools that let offenders impersonate victims, you are part of the crime,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison. “We will use every lawful tool to disrupt your business, take the profit out of it, and bring you to justice. No one operation is bigger than us together. With our partners at every level of law enforcement we will protect New Mexicans and defend those who stand up for our community.”

"The removal of this marketplace is a major step in protecting the public from fraud and identity theft crime," said Philip Russell, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Albuquerque Division. "Together with our partners, we will continue to target and dismantle the platforms that criminals depend on, no matter where they operate."

Acting U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison and Acting Special Agent in Charge Philip Russell of the FBI’s Albuquerque Field Office made the announcement today.

The FBI’s Albuquerque Field Office investigated this case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided valuable assistance.

The Justice Department collaborated closely with investigators and prosecutors from multiple jurisdictions in this investigation, including the District of New Mexico, Eastern District of Virginia, the Dutch National Police and the Netherlands Public Prosecution Service.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia announced today the seizure of approximately 145 darknet and traditional internet domains, and cryptocurrency funds associated with the BidenCash marketplace. The operators of the BidenCash marketplace use the platform to simplify the process of buying and selling stolen credit cards and associated personal information.

BidenCash commenced operations in March 2022. BidenCash administrators charged a fee for every transaction conducted on the website. The BidenCash marketplace had grown to support over 117,000 customers, facilitated the trafficking of over 15 million payment card numbers and personally identifiable information, and generated over $17 million in revenue during its operations.

The BidenCash marketplace domains will no longer be operational and will be redirected to a U.S. law enforcement-controlled server, preventing future criminal activity on these sites. The marketplace also sold compromised credentials that could be used to access computers without proper authorization.

Between October 2022 and February 2023, the BidenCash marketplace published 3.3 million individual stolen credit cards for free to promote the use of their services. The stolen data included credit card numbers, expiration dates, Card Verification Value (CVV) numbers, account holder names, addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers.

According to court records, the United States obtained court authorization to seize cryptocurrency funds that BidenCash marketplace used to receive illicit proceeds from its illegal sales.

Erik S. Siebert, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; John Szydlik, Resident Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service’s Frankfurt Resident Office; and Philip Russell, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office, made the announcement.

This case was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service’s Frankfurt Resident Office, the U.S. Secret Service’s Cyber Investigative Section, and the FBI Albuquerque Field Office.

The Department of Justice thanks the Dutch National High Tech Crime Unit, The Shadowserver Foundation and Searchlight Cyber for their assistance with the investigation.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Zoe Bedell in these matters.

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., today, unsealed two separate indictments that allege Chinese nationals Yin Kecheng, 38, (尹 可成) a/k/a “YKC” (“YIN”) and Zhou Shuai, 45, (周帅) a/k/a “Coldface” (“ZHOU”) violated various federal statutes by participating in years-long, sophisticated computer hacking conspiracies that successfully targeted a wide variety of U.S.-based victims

The Justice Department unsealed criminal charges today against Evgenii Ptitsyn, 42, a Russian national, for allegedly administering the sale, distribution, and operation of Phobos ransomware.

A federal grand jury indictment unsealed today charges two Sudanese nationals with operating and controlling Anonymous Sudan, an online cybercriminal group responsible for tens of thousands of Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks against critical infrastructure, corporate networks, and government agencies in the United States and around the world.

Hacking Group Known as “Andariel” Used Ransom Proceeds to Fund Theft of Sensitive Information from Defense and Technology Organizations Worldwide, Including U.S. Government Agencies

Two foreign nationals pleaded guilty today to participating in the LockBit ransomware group—at various times the most prolific ransomware variant in the world—and to deploying LockBit attacks against victims in the United States and worldwide.

A court-authorized international law enforcement operation led by the U.S. Justice Department disrupted a botnet used to commit cyber attacks, large-scale fraud, child exploitation, harassment, bomb threats, and export violations.

Defendants Operated as Part of the APT31 Hacking Group in Support of China’s Ministry of State Security’s Transnational Repression, Economic Espionage and Foreign Intelligence Objectives

The Department of Justice joined the United Kingdom and international law enforcement partners in London today to announce the disruption of the LockBit ransomware group, one of the most active ransomware groups in the world that has targeted over 2,000 victims, received more than $120 million in ransom payments, and made ransom demands totaling hundreds of millions of dollars.

The Justice Department announced today that, as part of an international law enforcement effort, federal authorities in Boston seized internet domains that were used to sell computer malware used by cybercriminals to secretly access and steal data from victims’ computers. Federal authorities in Atlanta and Boston also unsealed indictments charging individuals in Malta and Nigeria, respectively, for their alleged involvement in selling the malware and supporting cybercriminals seeking to use the malware for malicious purposes.

The Justice Department announced today a disruption campaign against the Blackcat ransomware group — also known as ALPHV or Noberus — that has targeted the computer networks of more than 1,000 victims and caused harm around the world since its inception, including networks that support U.S. critical infrastructure.

A Russian and Moldovan national pled guilty to three counts of violating 18 U.S.C. § 1030(a)(5)(A) Fraud and Related Activity in Connection with Computers.

The FBI today revealed US law enforcement’s dismantlement of a botnet proxy network and its infrastructure associated with the IPStorm malware.

According to online reports, the botnet infrastructure had infected Windows systems then further expanded to infect Linux, Mac, and Android devices, victimizing computers and other electronic devices around the world, including in Asia, Europe, North America and South America.

“Russia used sophisticated malware to steal sensitive information from our allies, laundering it through a network of infected computers in the United States in a cynical attempt to conceal their crimes.  Meeting the challenge of cyberespionage requires creativity and a willingness to use all lawful means to protect our nation and our allies,” stated United States Attorney Peace.  “The court-authorized remote search and remediation announced today demonstrates my Office and our partners’ commitment to using all of the tools at our disposal to protect the American people.”