The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) has announced the seizure of a fraudulent web domain and its associated database that were used to support a large scale bank account takeover operation targeting American victims.
According to officials, the seized domain web3adspanels[.]org functioned as a backend control panel where cybercriminals stored and managed stolen online banking credentials. Visitors to the domain are now shown a seizure notice stating that the action was carried out as part of a coordinated international law enforcement operation involving authorities from the United States and Estonia.
The Justice Department (DoJ) stated that the criminal network behind the scheme distributed deceptive advertisements through popular search engines, including Google and Bing. These advertisements were carefully designed to closely resemble legitimate sponsored listings used by real banking institutions.
Once users clicked on the ads, they were redirected to counterfeit banking websites operated by the attackers. These fake portals were embedded with malicious software that captured login credentials entered by unsuspecting victims. The stolen information was then used to access real banking platforms, allowing the criminals to take control of accounts and siphon funds.
Investigators estimate that the operation affected at least 19 victims across the United States, including two organizations located in the Northern District of Georgia. The scheme resulted in approximately $28 million in attempted losses, with confirmed financial losses reaching $14.6 million.
The Department of Justice further revealed that the seized domain contained login credentials belonging to thousands of victims and continued to support takeover activity as recently as the previous month.
Data shared by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) shows that the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) has received more than 5,100 reports of bank account takeover fraud since January 2025, with total reported losses exceeding $262 million.
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