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operation involving Germany, Australia, Denmark,
Moldova, Ukraine, the United Kingdom (the National
Crime Agency), and the USA (DEA, FBI, and IRS). The
investigation was led by the Koblenz Public Prosecutor’s
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Moldova and Ukraine used to run DarkMarket. They
have since been shut down, but not before investigators
collected all the data they contained for further
investigation, with a particular focus on the moderators
who worked for the marketplace.
As The Guardian reports, a 34-year-old Australian
citizen who is thought to be the operator of DarkMarket
has been arrested by the Central Criminal Investigation
Department in the German city of Oldenburg. His
arrest, combined with the data gathered from the seized
servers, makes it likely other arrests and prosecutions
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tracked down.
In November last year, the US government seized over
$1 billion in Bitcoin, claiming the funds once belonged
to the notorious dark-web marketplace Silk Road.
Although much smaller in scale, cryptocurrency
transactions carried out on DarkMarket may also end
up being seized as part of the investigation.
A 34-year-old
Australian
citizen who is
thought to
be the
operator of
DarkMarket
has been
arrested.PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION (^) I SUBSCRIBE (^) I FEBRUARY 2021