Major League Cyber Mafia Busted, Turns Out to Be 20-Year-Old Kid
Four individuals accused of major cybercrime, dubbed a top-tier mafia, have been arrested in connection with the massive dark web marketplace ‘BreachForums’. All the reported criminal suspects are approximately 20 years old.
For context, BreachForums is one of the world’s most notorious cybercrime discussion forums. In 2022, it evolved into a platform for advertising stolen data and recruiting criminal groups.
Frequently, this dark marketplace sells hacking tools used to breach targets, leading to substantial financial losses. It can be described as a hub where cyber thieves exchange information and conduct transactions.
BreachForums was only shut down in May 2024. The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Centre (IC3) states that ShinyHunters, an alias of one of the suspects, managed the site from June until its closure.
The arrests were carried out by the Paris police’s cybercrime brigade (BL2C) in Hauts-de-Seine and Seine-Maritime on the northern coast. Additional arrests occurred on Reunion Island, located between Madagascar and Mauritius.
All those arrested used aliases such as Hollow, Noct, Depressed, and ShinyHunters. The latter is specifically linked to attacks on Snowflake, Ticketmaster, and AT&T.
Although they appear as individuals, cybersecurity analysts describe ShinyHunters as a criminal mafia group. One member, Sebastien Raoult, a French national, was previously arrested in the US, according to The Register (Sunday, 15/3/2025).
All suspects are accused of involvement in group attacks on the French retailer Boulanger, the government department France Travail, and the French football federation.
Previously, in February, law enforcement also arrested IntelBroker. Another arrest involved US citizen Conor Brian Fitzpatrick, known as Pompompurin, a former BreachForums admin.
Pompompurin was arrested in March 2023 and sentenced to 20 years with probation in January 2024. He has not yet served two years of house arrest but has regained internet access.