FBI, Dutch Police Take Down HeartSender Cybercrime Network

3 February 2025 2 minutes Author: Newsman

A joint operation by the FBI and Dutch cyberpolice has taken down 39 underground domains used to sell phishing tools and Heart Blocker spam campaigns. The operation exposed the activities of HeartSender, an organized cybercrime group from Pakistan that had been operating for more than a decade.

According to law enforcement, HeartSender was one of the largest platforms for providing cybercrime services, selling phishing kits, spamming tools, cookie interceptors, and access to compromised web hosts and servers. According to researcher Brian Krebs, the network administrators, known as Seeme Raza, previously operated under the name “Manipulators” and tried to create the image of a “legitimate business” while in reality they continued to operate illegally.

Estimated losses to victims in the US exceeded $3 million, and the Hartsender database contained the credentials of at least 100,000 Dutch citizens, which were likely used in the fraudulent scheme. The Hartsender investigation began in 2022, when Dutch police discovered the phishing software during a routine investigation. Shortly after, it was revealed that the FBI was already working to dismantle the network, and both parties joined forces. According to court documents, the HeartSender infrastructure allowed criminals to

  • Mass distribute phishing attacks aimed at stealing credentials.
  • Sell access to compromised servers, including cPanels, SMTP servers, and WordPress accounts.
  • Operate through cybercrime marketplaces, where their tools were purchased by organized crime groups.

The HeartSender takedown was part of a global crackdown on cybercrime. On the same day, law enforcement conducted another large-scale operation, Operation Talent, which shut down hacker forums Cracked.io, Nulled.to, MySellIX.io, and StarkRDP.io, which generated more than $5 million a year. The investigation is ongoing, and police are checking possible buyers of these tools.

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