A joint regulation enforcement operation has dismantled LeakBase, one of many world’s largest on-line boards for cybercriminals to purchase and promote stolen information and cybercrime instruments.
The LeakBase discussion board, per the U.S. Division of Justice (DoJ), had over 142,000 members and greater than 215,000 messages between members as of December 2025. These making an attempt to entry the discussion board’s web site (“leakbase[.]la”) at the moment are greeted with a seizure banner that claims it was confiscated by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as a part of a world regulation enforcement effort.
“All discussion board content material, together with customers’ accounts, posts, credit score particulars, personal messages, and IP logs, has been secured and preserved for evidentiary functions,” the banner reads.
Obtainable in English and accessible over the clearnet, LeakBase provided hacked databases, together with tons of of tens of millions of account credentials and monetary data resembling credit score and debit card numbers, banking account and routing data, usernames, and related passwords that may very well be abused to facilitate account takeovers.
Based on a report revealed by Flare in April 2023, LeakBase explicitly prohibited customers from peddling or publishing Russian databases, seemingly in an try to keep away from scrutiny. The discussion board has been lively since 2021.
LeakBase is among the aliases for Chucky, who additionally goes by the monikers Chuckies and Sqlrip throughout numerous underground boards. Per SOCRadar, the menace actor has a observe document of sharing huge collections of databases, typically containing delicate data from world entities.
What’s extra, SpyCloud revealed early final month that the discussion board had been down for just a few days and that Chucky was searching for a brand new internet hosting supplier. Among the different recognized directors and moderators of LeakBase embody BloodyMery, OrderCheck, and TSR.
As a part of the disruption train codenamed Operation Leak that came about on March 3 and 4, 2026, authorities executed search warrants, made arrests, and carried out interviews within the U.S., Australia, Belgium, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, and the U.Ok.
In a coordinated announcement, Europol mentioned LeakBase specialised within the sale of stealer logs, which comprise archives of credentials harvested by way of infostealer malware. The knowledge may very well be weaponized to conduct account takeover, fraud, and different cyber intrusions.
The company mentioned round 100 enforcement actions have been carried out the world over, together with taking unspecified measures in opposition to 37 of probably the most lively customers of the platforms.
“The FBI, Europol, and regulation enforcement businesses from all over the world executed a takedown of LeakBase, one of many largest on-line cybercriminal platforms, seizing customers’ accounts, posts, credit score particulars, personal messages, and IP logs for evidentiary functions,” mentioned Assistant Director Brett Leatherman of the FBI’s Cyber Division.
