Security News > 2022 > June > US seizes SSNDOB market for selling personal info of 24 million people
SSNDOB, an online marketplace that sold the names, social security numbers, and dates of birth of approximately 24 million US people, has been taken offline following an international law enforcement operation.
The SSNDOB marketplace consisted of multiple sites acting as mirrors of each other to aid in preventing DDoS attacks or law enforcement operations.
"A series of websites that operated for years and were used to sell personal information, including the names, dates of birth, and Social Security numbers belonging to individuals in the United States. The SSNDOB Marketplace has listed the personal information for approximately 24 million individuals in the United States, generating more than $19 million USD in sales revenue," explains a press release by the Department of Justice.
While the website also sold the dates of birth for people in the United Kingdom, it was primarily used to sell the personal information of US citizens for as little as $0.50.
In a coordinated report, blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis explains that they tracked $22 million in Bitcoin being paid to SSNDOB since April 2015.
"Perhaps most interesting of all though is the activity we see between SSNDOB and Joker's Stash, a large darknet market focused on stolen credit card information and other PII that shut down in January 2021," explains Chainalysis' report.