Moldovan national Sandu Boris Diaconu, aged 31, has been sentenced by the US authorities to 42 months in prison for operating E-Root Marketplace, a network of websites that facilitated the sale of compromised computer credentials on a global scale.
The E-Root Marketplace, managed and operated by Diaconu, used advanced techniques to conceal the identities of its administrators, buyers, and sellers. Buyers could search for compromised computer credentials (usernames/passwords) that would give them remote access to the victim computers, using desired criteria such as price, geographic location, internet service provider, and operating system.
To further obfuscate transactions, the Marketplace employed Perfect Money, an online payment system, and provided an illicit cryptocurrency exchange service, facilitating the conversion of Bitcoin to Perfect Money and vice versa. This exchange was also seized.
The authorities estimated that over 350,000 compromised credentials were listed for sale on the E-Root Marketplace. The victims span the globe and all industries, the authorities said. Many victims were hit with ransomware attacks, and some of the stolen credentials listed on the Marketplace were linked to stolen identity tax fraud schemes.
Diaconu was arrested inMay 2021 when he attempted to flee the United Kingdom, and he was extradited to the US in October 2023. Diaconu's sentencing follows his guilty plea on December 1, 2023.