On Wednesday, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr announced that the Office of the Attorney General’s Prosecution Division is participating in a nationwide investigation into suspected users of Genesis Market, which is a darknet marketplace known to sell stolen credentials of victims whose computers have been compromised by malware.
“Over the course of their investigation into the illicit online marketplace, federal law enforcement worked to identify those who purchased and used these stolen access credentials to commit fraud and other cybercrimes,” a press release from Carr’s office explained. “This effort resulted in hundreds of leads being sent to law enforcement throughout the United States, including the Georgia Office of the Attorney General. Federal authorities also recently announced the seizure of 11 domain names used to support Genesis Market’s infrastructure.”
Georgians lost more than $322 million to internet crimes in the last year, and nationally those losses were about $10 billion, according to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3).
“As with any dark web marketplace, Genesis only exists because there are people out there willing to purchase a stolen product and further perpetrate a fraudulent scheme,” said Carr. “We are proud to work with our federal partners to investigate those who may be committing these costly crimes here in Georgia, so we can ensure they are held accountable for their actions. As we continue with our case, we would encourage all Georgians to remain vigilant when conducting business online.”
