Authorities shut down Crimenetwork, the Germany’s largest crime marketplace

Germany’s largest crime marketplace, Crimenetwork, has been shut down, and an administrator has been arrested.

German authorities announced the takedown of Crimenetwork, the largest German-speaking underground marketplace.

Since 2012, Crimenetwork facilitated the sale of illegal goods and services, including drugs, forged documents, hacking tools, and stolen data. The platform served as a hub for cybercriminals to trade and coordinate illegal operations.

The police also arrested an administrator (29) of the marketplace and seized €1M in assets. The authorities charged the man for facilitating the sale of drugs, stolen data, and illegal services. The 29-year-old suspect was accused of being the technical administrator of the marketplace for years. The man is not in custody.

A 29-year-old suspect, accused of being Crimenetwork’s technical administrator for years, faces charges for operating a criminal platform and drug trafficking. Now in custody.

The operation was carried out by Public Prosecutor’s Office in Frankfurt am Main, the Central Office for Combating Cybercrime (ZIT), and the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA).

“The Frankfurt am Main Public Prosecutor’s Office – Central Office for Combating Internet Crime ( ZIT ) – and the Federal Criminal Police Office ( BKA ) arrested one of the administrators of the criminal trading platform” Crimenetwork” on Monday . In addition to extensive evidence and high-value vehicles, assets worth around one million euros in crypto assets were also seized.” reads the BKA’s announcement. “The platform was considered the largest German-speaking online marketplace for the underground economy and had been active for many years. Now, as part of the investigation, the servers belonging to the platform’s technical infrastructure have been shut down.”

According to the German authorities, Crimenetwork had 100 sellers and 100,000 users, primarily German-speaking. Nearly $100M in cryptocurrency was traded on the platform from 2018-2024, with operators taking 1-5% commissions. The platform allowed the payment for the illegal goods and services in Bitcoin (BTC) and Monero (XMR) cryptocurrencies.

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Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, cybercrime)