US and Global Law Enforcement Shut Down LeakBase Hackers Forum

The Justice Department announced the seizure of what it called one of the world’s largest hacker forums.

In a Wednesday (March 4) news release, the department said LeakBase, “one of the world’s largest online forums” trading in stolen data and cybercrime tools, had been dismantled in a global operation.

“On March 3 and 4, law enforcement agents and officers in 14 countries including the United States took synchronized actions against LeakBase and its users in a coordinated effort hosted by Europol in The Hague,” the department said in its news release.

Prosecutors allege LeakBase had more than 142,000 members and upwards of 215,000 messages at the time of the seizure.

“Available on the open web and in English, the forum had an enormous and continuously updated archive of hacked databases including many from high profile attacks, including hundreds of millions of account credentials,” per the release.

“LeakBase allowed forum users to sell the information from stolen databases, including data illegally obtained from U.S. corporations and individuals, and offered credit and debit card numbers, banking account and routing information, usernames and associated passwords which could facilitate additional account takeovers, as well as other sensitive business and personally identifiable information.”

As part of the takedown, “Around 100 enforcement actions were conducted worldwide, including measures against 37 of the most active users of the platforms,” Europol said in a Wednesday news release.

The global enforcement operation led to LeakBase being shuttered and its data and two of its domains being seized. The investigators also posted “seizure banners” on the LeakBase sites and sent prevention messages to LeakBase members.

“The takedown of this cyber forum disrupts a major international platform that cybercriminals use to obtain and profit from the theft of sensitive personal, banking and account credentials,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.

In other cybersecurity news, PYMNTS wrote this week about the rising threat of cyberattacks amid “heightened geopolitical confrontation,” such as the U.S. war with Iran.

“Compounding this challenge in 2026 is the proliferation of technologies that operate outside traditional IT governance frameworks,” the report said.

This unmonitored layer of “shadow AI” can both cause new vulnerabilities and obscure the tracking of risk propagation back to the organization, presenting a challenging security paradox to modern supply chain leaders.

“The more they embrace strategies and solutions designed to enhance the visibility and resilience of their operations, the more potential entry points there are that may need to be safeguarded from criminals,” PYMNTS wrote.