How to secure your bank, eBay, Amazon and Facebook accounts if hackers have stolen YOUR passwords
By Natasha Anderson and Dan Sales For Mailonline and Rebecca Camber Crime And Security Editor For The Daily Mail
21:50 05 Apr 2023, updated 22:41 05 Apr 2023
- The Genesis Market was taken offline in an international swoop by law forces
- National Crime Agency outlined steps victims can take to protect themselves
- ***Are YOU a Genesis Market victim? Email [email protected] or [email protected]***
Cyber security experts are warning against the ruthless tactics that fraudsters use to steal personal data after international law enforcement agencies shut down one of the biggest criminal marketplaces in the world.
A sting on the site – which was called Genesis Market – unfolded last night and saw raids on users across the globe. About 120 people were arrested worldwide and more than 200 searches were carried out.
The online marketplace was selling millions of sets of stolen personal information for 56p each. The site had 80million sets of credentials including online banking, Facebook, Amazon, PayPal and Netflix account information, as well as digital fingerprints with mobile device data.
MailOnline can reveal the steps victims of the Genesis Market scheme can take to protect themselves.
Step 1: Check if your data has been compromised
Potential victims will need to verify whether or not their data has been breached and accessed by criminals on Genesis Market.
This can be done by visiting Check Your Hack and inputting your email address.
Step 2: Check your devices and accounts
Potential victims will also need to check if their electronic devices or accounts have compromised by hackers.
Technology users should check online accounts to see if there has been any unauthorised activity, such as attempted log-ins from strange locations, messages sent from your account or money transfers you don’t recognise.
They should also check their devices for viruses. Signs of infection can include a slow running device that is rebooting by itself or pop-up boxes from programs you don’t recognise that may ask you to do unexpected things.
Step 3: Secure your devices
If one suspects their PC, tablet or phone has been infected with a virus or malware, they should follow the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) guidance no how to remove the infection and restore the device.
Victims should also ensure their computer and mobile devices always have the latest security updates installed where possible.
They should not ignore prompts for device upgrades and should apply updates as soon as they are available. It is recommended to turn on ‘automatic updates’ in the device’s settings, if available.
Step 4: Protect your online accounts from future compromise
There are several steps one can take to further protect their online accounts.
The NCSC recommends using three random words to create a strong password for each online account that is different to all your other passwords, to prevent criminals accessing your personal information.
One should always use 2-step verification (2SV) where possible to protect their most important online accounts. 2SV helps to keep criminals out of your online accounts, even if they know your passwords.
Use your browser’s password manager to safely store passwords. Password managers are easy to use, hard to crack and will save you from having to memorise your passwords.
Web browsers will offer you the opportunity to save your password when you log into an account.
Step 5: Report it
If your data has been comprised or accessed by criminals on Genesis or if you have fallen victim to fraud or cyber crime more generally, report it to Action Fraud.
In Scotland, report it to Police Scotland by calling 101. If you are a victim of fraud, you should also report it to your bank.
If a law enforcement officer contacts you in relation to a suspected fraud, you can verify their identity by calling the police on 101 or the NCA Control Centre on 0370 496 7622.
If you’ve received a suspicious email, forward it to [email protected] to help stop criminal activity and prevent others falling victim to scams.
The FBI, Dutch police forces and authorities from 17 other countries – including the UK’s NCA – shut down one of the world’s largest online marketplaces where cybercriminals can buy stolen identities and passwords yesterday.
Genesis had 80million sets of credentials available for sale and two million victims.
Police arrested 119 people in the international operation, including 24 arrests in and around Grimsby.
Suspects were targeted in countries including Australia, Britain, Canada, the United States and more than 10 countries in Europe.
Today visitors to the site, which the NCA said had hundreds of UK users, were greeted with a page showing the FBI investigation name Operation Cookie Monster.
Tens of thousands of British victims are feared to have been targeted by the site.
It worked through a group of attackers that created a program which infected millions of users over the world to harvest their data.
Those who wanted to use Genesis could only join by invite from an already established member.
The referrals were offered for sale on some places on the net for around £25.
The marketplace could be found using normal internet search engines, as well as on the dark web, and users were offered step-by-step guides on how to buy stolen details as well as how to use them for fraud.
The site contained easy-to-follow instructions telling offenders how to masquerade as their victim, getting around banking systems that require biometric data.
It even advised how to buy bitcoin to avoid law enforcement tracing transactions.
Data on sale included account log-ins, passwords, cookies, search history and autofill form data enabling fraudsters to build up a detailed picture about their prey.
Offenders were also able to infiltrate victims’ computers to install secret malware which notified them in real-time if their target changed their passwords.
Armed with the information, fraudsters were able to empty bank accounts, indulge in mass spending sprees or steal valuable data to blackmail victims into handing over even more cash through ransomware.
Chillingly, many criminals have also used the stolen digital fingerprints to obtain information about their prey such as the names of friends and family, relationships and work colleagues to target them for further offences such as investment or romance fraud.
The site also provided gangs a one-stop shop for digital identities and a custom browser so they can mimic a victim’s device and drain their accounts in a few clicks.
Prices started from 70 cents US (56p) and went up to several hundreds of dollars, depending on the type of information available.
William Lyne, head of cyber intelligence for the NCA, said: ‘Genesis Market is one of the top criminal access marketplaces anywhere in the world.
‘Genesis Market is an enormous enabler of fraud and a range of other criminal activity online by facilitating that initial access to victims, which is a critical part of the business model in a whole range of nefarious activity.’
Software company Netacea had warned about the site two years ago and had even written a report about its dangers.
It said: ‘Although highly illegal, its operations are run in a professional and even user-friendly manner.
‘The Genesis marketplace includes terms and conditions, an FAQ, frequently updated utility software, and even a support desk with ticket system for customer queries.
‘This Aladdin’s Cave of criminally obtained data is growing at an alarming rate.’
Rob Jones, director-general of the National Economic Crime Centre, said it was ‘very, very easy’ for anyone to access Genesis Market to commit crime.
‘This is the problem for us in the online world – you don’t need to know a criminal to start,’ he said.
‘So you can completely self-start and go looking for this and get everything you need to perpetrate a crime.
Mr Jones continued: ‘And so that is why this is so damaging. You don’t have to go and meet somebody, you don’t have to go into a shadowy forum.
‘You can get into it, pay your money, and then you’ve got the tools to commit a crime.
‘And that’s why it is so damaging, and it is very, very easy.’
Businesses as well as individuals had their information sold on Genesis Market, which facilitated fraud; ransomware attacks – where hackers block access to data and demand payment to release it; sim-swapping, where mobile phone numbers are hijacked; and the theft of source code from companies.
NCA investigators have already set up spoof distributed denial-of-service sites, which bring down servers by flooding them with requests, to harvest the details of criminals.
They may use similar tactics when it comes to fraud sites.
Mr Jones said: ‘Our approach to tackling the criminal marketplace is that cyber criminals won’t know who they’re interacting with and won’t know for certain that they are dealing with a criminal.
‘And that could be a site that a partner or the NCA has access to and we’re getting their credentials.’
He added: ‘If you’re a cyber criminal, you’re not going to know whether we’ve got your credentials and whether you’re going to get a knock on the door in the morning.’
Members of the public can click here to find out if their credentials featured on Genesis.
***Are YOU a Genesis Market victim? Email [email protected] or [email protected]***
