German law enforcement, in collaboration with authorities from several countries, has taken down two of the largest forums used for criminal activities. The platforms “nulled.to” and “cracked.io”, which had over 10 million registered users, were shut down in an international operation.
As a result of coordinated actions, police arrested eight individuals suspected of running these illicit marketplaces. Among them are two German citizens, aged 29 and 32—one residing in Spain and the other in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. They face up to 10 years in prison.
During the operation, authorities conducted seven searches and seized 67 electronic devices, including 17 servers. Payment and hosting services linked to the forums were also shut down, and assets worth several hundred thousand euros were confiscated.
Germany’s Interior Minister Nancy Faeser called the operation a “significant blow to international cybercrime.” She stated that criminals used these forums to sell malware, carry out hacking attacks, and distribute stolen data.
Additionally, law enforcement agencies from the Netherlands and the U.S. shut down another online marketplace, “HeartSender,” which specialized in software for online fraud.
