The US is seeking extradition of Liridon Masurica, who was arrested in Kosovo on suspicion of running an online marketplace that sold the personal data, passwords and bank details of US citizens to criminals.
Photo illustration: Pixels/Anete Lusina
The US Attorney’s Office in Tampa, Florida said on Thursday that Liridon Masurica, a 33-year-old from Gjilan/Gnilanje in Kosovo, has been arrested and awaits extradition to the US on suspicion of running an online criminal marketplace used to commit fraud.
It said a grand jury in Florida had charged Masurica “with one count of conspiracy to commit access device fraud and five substantive counts of fraudulent use of 15 or more unauthorised access devices. If convicted on all counts, Masurica faces a maximum penalty of 55 years in federal prison”.
The indictment alleges that Masurica is the “lead administrator of BlackDB.cc – an online criminal marketplace in operation from 2018 until present”, which sold “compromised account and server credentials, credit card information, and other personally identifiable information of individuals primarily located in the United States, including those located within the Middle District of Florida”.
The items sold on BlackDB.cc were used by cybercriminals for activities such as “tax fraud, credit card fraud, and identity theft,” according to the US Attorney’s Office.
Investigations were led in the US by the FBI and Internal Revenue Service together with the Kosovo Police’s cybercrime department and with the assistance of an FBI office in Sofia, Bulgaria.
On Thursday, the Kosovo prosecution and police announced that raids carried out in Pristina and Gjilan/Gnilanje over BlackDB and another case, known as RYDOX, had resulted in three arrests.
According to Kosovo authorities, RYDOX sold smuggled products and illegal services including “personal data of the victims (American citizens) such as: names, addresses, social security numbers, drivers’ licenses, email addresses and passwords, and data of bank account for online access”.
The online criminal marketplace used a server in Malaysia. According to the Kosovo authorities, in collaboration with Malaysian authorities, the server has been taken down.