UNICC was the largest “carding” platform, recording nearly $ 358 million in transactions in less than ten years.
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Russian intelligence services (FSB), announced on Saturday, January 22 have arrested a man suspected of being the founder and director of UNICC, one of the largest banking fraud sites in the world. This site, appeared in 2013, was one of the current leaders of the carding, a platform designed to sell and buy stolen bank cards, a very lucrative business and especially used for money laundering.
Andrey Sergeevich Novak, a Russian citizen sought by American justice, was arrested by the authorities of his country, while three other suspects were assigned at residence, According to the Russian press agency TASS , which progresses that the American authorities have transmitted to Russia information in the framework of this operation.
A recently closed site
According to Elliptic , specialized in the analysis of financial flows and cryptomonniaries, UNICC has been for three years The largest carding platform, recording nearly $ 358 million in transactions in less than ten years of existence.
On January 12, analysts reported that a person presenting himself as a UNICC director had announced, on several black market forums, the closure of the site. “Do not develop conspiracy theories under the pretext of this closure: it is a reflected decision. We are not young and our health does not allow us to continue like this for a long time,” explained a message, quoted by Elliptic. The co-founder of the company, Tom Robinson, however, had not excluded, at the time, the hypothesis of a false message published by investigators after a seizure led by judicial authorities.
In October 2017, the US authorities had formally charged Andrey Sergeevich Novak as part of an investigation into the Infraud Organization, whose dismantling was announced by the United States in 2018. If the TASS presents the suspect as A “founder” of Infraud Organization, the American indictment, however, cites it as a simple member of the network, having joined in 2013 – when Mr. Novak is suspected of having created UNICC, a site that was part of the Infraud Organization network. “It is a provider of bank card codes and is the operator of the site” uniccshop.ru “, using it as a platform for selling credit card codes to other members and associates of Infraud Organization “, specifies the deed of charge.
Since the beginning of the year, the second police operation of the FSB in the cybercrime sector relying on information or applications issued by the United States. On January 14, the Russian authorities announced that they dismantled revil, a group specializing in the ranks, at the request of American justice. The United States has, in recent months, accused Russia to turn a blind eye on the activities of cybercriminals group acting on its territory, and communicated to the authorities information on some suspects. These operations also occur in the midst of tensions between the two countries, while Ukraine and its partners are concerned about possible Russian military invasion.