Sophos unravels 20 fake criminal marketplaces designed to scam scammers

SOPHOS, a global leader in innovating and delivering cybersecurity as a service, recently revealed details of how it tracked down the likely culprit behind more than 20 fake criminal marketplaces designed to con cyber scammers in part three of Sophos' "The Scammers Who Scam Scammers on Cybercrime Forums" series.

After stumbling upon a surface website mimicking the real criminal underground site Genesis, Sophos researchers further uncovered the 20 fake marketplaces dating back to August 2021. All of the fake sites appeared to be run by a scammer who uses the handle "waltcranston," a likely riff on the television show "Breaking Bad."