Authorities dismantled the card-checking platform Try2Check

Authorities dismantled the Try2Check platform, a Card-Checking platform that generated tens of millions of dollars in revenue.

The U.S. DoJ charged the Russian citizen Denis Gennadievich Kulkov with running the Card-Checking services. The platform has been active since 2005, according to the DoJ, it generated tens of millions of dollars in revenue. The service allowed crooks to check the status of bulks of stolen credit card data that were purchased or sold by cybercriminals.

“Try2Check ran tens of millions of credit card checks per year and supported the operations of major card shops that made hundreds of millions in bitcoin in profits. Over a nine-month period in 2018, the site performed at least 16 million checks, and over a 13-month period beginning in September 2021, the site performed at least 17 million checks.” reads the press release published by the DoJ. “Through the illegal operation of his websites, the defendant made at least $18 million in bitcoin (as well as an unknown amount through other payment systems), which he used to purchase a Ferrari, among other luxury items.”

The indictment is the result of a law enforcement operation conducted by the U.S. government along with peers in Germany and Austria. The authorities dismantled the defendant’s criminal network and the State Department also announced a $10 million reward for information leading to the capture of Kulkov, who is currently residing in Russia.

“Today is a bad day for criminals who relied on the defendant’s platform as the gold standard to verify that the credit cards they stole from hard working individuals living in the Eastern District of New York and across the world had value,” stated United States Attorney Peace. “Today’s indictment and global takedown of the Try2Check website demonstrates that the Office, together with our partners, will disrupt cybercrime operations no matter where they are based.”

The DoJ pointed out that Try2Check also victimized a major U.S.-based payment processing company whose services were used by the Try2Check platform to perform the card checks.

If convicted, Kulkov faces 20 years of imprisonment.

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Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, Try2Check platform)

Pierluigi Paganini

Pierluigi Paganini is member of the ENISA (European Union Agency for Network and Information Security) Threat Landscape Stakeholder Group and Cyber G7 Group, he is also a Security Evangelist, Security Analyst and Freelance Writer. Editor-in-Chief at "Cyber Defense Magazine", Pierluigi is a cyber security expert with over 20 years experience in the field, he is Certified Ethical Hacker at EC Council in London. The passion for writing and a strong belief that security is founded on sharing and awareness led Pierluigi to find the security blog "Security Affairs" recently named a Top National Security Resource for US. Pierluigi is a member of the "The Hacker News" team and he is a writer for some major publications in the field such as Cyber War Zone, ICTTF, Infosec Island, Infosec Institute, The Hacker News Magazine and for many other Security magazines. Author of the Books "The Deep Dark Web" and “Digital Virtual Currency and Bitcoin”.