"US Announces Charges, Sanctions Against Russian Administrator of Carding Website"
The US government recently announced rewards of up to $10 million each for information leading to the arrest of two Russian nationals charged over their involvement in operating and laundering proceeds from carding websites. Joker's Stash was an underground marketplace for stolen payment card data active since at least 2014 and shut down in January 2021, roughly one month after law enforcement seized its servers. According to the Department of Justice (DoJ), Joker's Stash offered roughly 40 million payment cards for sale annually and is estimated to have generated between $280 million and over $1 billion in illegal profits. The carding website, the DoJ alleges, was operated by Russian national Timur Shakhmametov, also known as "JokerStash" and "Vega." He was charged with bank fraud conspiracy, access device fraud conspiracy, and money laundering conspiracy related to his involvement in operating Joker's Stash. The US is offering up to $10 million for information on Shakhmametov, and separate rewards of up to $1 million for information on other leaders of the website. According to the DoJ, Russian national Sergey Ivanov, also known as "Taleon," was involved in laundering proceeds from Joker's Stash and Rescator, a carding website offering stolen payment card data from US organizations and the personal information of US citizens.