Ukrainian Fraudster Gets 15-Year Sentence for Trafficking Personal Data of US Citizens

A Ukrainian national is facing a 15-year sentence after pleading guilty to operating the SSNDOB Marketplace, a platform used to traffic stolen digital identities for use in fraud.

37-year-old Vitalii Chychasov, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit access device fraud and trafficking in unauthorized access to devices relating to his administration of SSNDOB Marketplace.

The US Department of Justice describes the marketplace as “a series of websites that operated for years and were used to sell personal information, including the names, dates of birth, and Social Security numbers belonging to individuals in the United States.”

The now-defunct venue listed the personal information of millions of individuals in the US, generating more than $19 million in fraud-related revenue.

The FBI and international partners dismantled the SSNDOB in June of 2022, mere months after Chychasov was arrested while trying to enter Hungary. He was extradited to the US, and a second SSNDOB Marketplace administrator, Sergey Pugach, was also detained.

Court records allege that the duo created adverts on Dark Web forums to attract clientele, going so far as to provide customer support functions, while regularly monitoring the activities of the sites, including checking when purchasers deposited money into their accounts.

The two would protect their anonymity by maintaining servers in various countries, and requiring buyers to pay in cryptocurrency.

The stolen digital identities trafficked through the SSNDOB Marketplace were used commit a variety of frauds, including US tax fraud, unemployment insurance fraud, loan fraud, credit card fraud, and many crimes in between.

In one case, investigators determined that a single buyer from the site stole and laundered nearly $10 million with stolen personal identifying information purchased from SSNDOB.

For his offenses, Chychasov faces a maximum 15 years in federal prison. As part of his plea agreement, he will forfeit the internet domains used to commit the offenses, as well as $5 million, representing the proceeds of his own fraudulent activities.

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