Pierluigi Paganini
May 26, 2021
French authorities seized the dark web marketplace Le Monde Parallèle, the operation is another success of national police in the fight against cybercrime activity in the dark web.
It is the third large French-speaking platform seized by the local police after Black Hand in 2018 and French Deep Web Market in 2019.
The seizure of the Le Monde Parallèle was the result of an operation conducted by the National Directorate of Intelligence and Customs Investigations (DNRED) that lasted several months.
The black marketplace was active since early 2020, sellers were offering any kind of legal product and service, including stolen card data, drugs, fake documents, and weapons. The crooks behind the dark web marketplaces addition were also operating a support forum.
The platform had thousands of users before being seized by the authorities.
According to a statement published by the Ministry of the Economy, the French authorities arrested two administrators of the platform and seized various computer equipment, false documents, bank cards and prepaid cards, several thousand euros in cryptocurrency.
“On May 17, 2021, DNRED agents carried out two home visits, in Paris and in the Metz region, following several months of investigation by the Cyberdouane service on the Darknet TOR aimed at identifying the administrators of the French-speaking platform ” Le Monde Parallèle ”(LMP), offering for sale various illicit products and services (drugs, false documents, weapons, carding, etc.).” reads the statement.
“I congratulate the agents of the DNRED for this new success against the traffickers active on the Darknet”, declared Bruno Le Maire, the Minister of the Economy. “By putting an end to the activity of the site” Le Monde Parallèle “, the customs carry the commitment of the government to fight all forms of crime including cyber delinquency which harms the French and the legal economy” , he added.
For Olivier Dussopt, Minister Delegate in charge of Public Accounts, “this dismantling illustrates the permanent mobilization and the remarkable know-how of this administration, especially its specialized Cyberdouane unit, to hinder this threat emanating from the darkest part of the Internet” .
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(SecurityAffairs – hacking, Le Monde Parallèle)
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