Authorities from 14 countries shut down LeakBase, seize its domains, and arrest multiple people allegedly tied to the cybercrime forum, which had 142K+ members
The marketplace was one of the world's largest hubs for cybercrime with more than 142,000 members.
CyberScoopMatt Kapko
Context & Ripple Effects
LeakBase's removal extends a recurring enforcement campaign against forums that aggregate stolen data and cybercrime services. The FBI's earlier seizure of BreachForums and its Telegram channel showed that authorities are targeting both marketplace infrastructure and its distribution channels.
The pattern also includes the US-led RaidForums seizure, a larger forum used by extortion groups. LeakBase's 142,000-plus membership makes this a meaningful disruption, while the prior cases show that a domain seizure alone does not settle the underlying demand for such venues.
First-order effects
LeakBase's domains are no longer available to its members, interrupting a central venue for listing, finding, and trading cybercrime-related material.
The arrests and infrastructure seizure put alleged operators and participants under immediate legal and operational pressure, while users lose an established marketplace and community channel.
Second-order effects
Former users and sellers are likely to seek replacement channels, fragmenting activity across smaller forums and private groups rather than leaving it concentrated in one public destination.
Other cybercrime platforms face a sharper enforcement signal: visible domains, communications channels, and operator infrastructure can all become targets, increasing the value of operational anonymity and off-platform trust.
Third-order effects
Repeated multinational takedowns point to an enforcement model focused on dismantling the marketplaces that lower transaction costs for cybercrime, not solely pursuing individual attackers.
If this pattern persists, the market may become more fragmented and harder to monitor; disruption can raise friction without necessarily eliminating the supply of stolen data or criminal services.
The trend: Cross-border law enforcement is increasingly targeting cybercrime forums as market infrastructure, forcing illicit communities toward more fragmented and less visible channels.
LeakBase has been hosted by and used as the registrar with Njalla for quite awhile. So that's one take away from this. The other takeaway is Chucky (the admin) probably isn't arrested, and will likely bring up a new domain.
The FBI (and apparently every other government agency on planet) has seized LeakBase, the long standing competitor to Breached, with the difference being LeakBase was more tailored to Eastern Europeans. Hot take: Operation Leak is an unoriginal and lazy name [image]
United States Leads Dismantlement of One of the World's Largest Hacker Forums “The takedown of this cyber forum disrupts a major international platform that cybercriminals use to obtain and profit from the theft of sensitive personal, banking and account credentials,” said [image…
‼️ Here is some more information on the LeakBase seizure from Europol, along with some images from the actions of law enforcement. On 3 March, law enforcement authorities carried out coordinated enforcement actions across multiple jurisdictions, including arrests, house searches …
‼️BREAKING: LeakBase is showing that it has been seized by law enforcement via updated Whois information. There is currently no seizure banner showing. [image]
[Europol... described LeakBase as a “central hub in the cybercrime ecosystem” that specialized in leaked databases and stealer logs. The English-language site, which has been active since 2021, contained more than 32,000 posts and more than 215,000 private messages.] — cybersc…
Major forum Leakbase has been dismantled in a coordinated operation. The platform was disrupted through joint action across multiple countries. — Learn more ➡️ https://www.europol.europa.eu/media- press/newsroom/news/major-data-leak- forum-dismantled-in-global-action- against-…
🚨The FBI and our partners across the globe have seized the LeakBase database, one of the world's largest underground forums for stolen data. https://www.justice.gov/... [image]
The takedown of LeakBase is a win for #Cybersecurity, but it's a constant battle. Threat actors will adapt. This reinforces the need for strong, unique passwords & MFA everywhere. For real-time monitoring of stolen credentials, check out Lunar's free exposure platform:
LeakBase, one of the world's largest online forums for cybercriminals to buy and sell stolen data and cybercrime tools, has been seized by US law enforcement. https://www.justice.gov/... https://flipboard.social/...
Today, the #FBI, Europol and law enforcement agencies around the world executed a takedown of LeakBase, one of the largest cybercriminal platforms, seizing users' accounts, posts, credit details, private messages and IP logs for evidentiary purposes. Together with our partners, […