The US Department of Justice today announced the indictment of Russian citizen Denis Gennadievich Kulkov on suspicion of leading a stolen credit card verification operation that generated tens of millions in revenue.

Kulkov allegedly created the underground service Try2Check in 2005, a platform that quickly became popular among cybercriminals in the illegal credit card trade and helped the suspect earn at least $18 million in bitcoins.

The service was used by those who were involved in both buying and wholesaling stolen credit card numbers and needed to verify what percentage of cards were valid and active, including dark markets web. like the joker’s hideout to test the cards.

With the help of the Try2Check platform, the defendant not only victimized the credit card holders and issuers, but also a major US payment processing company whose systems were exploited to perform the card checks.

Try2Check was also dismantled on Wednesday following a joint operation between the US government and partners in Germany and Austria, including units of the Austrian Criminal Intelligence Service, the German Federal Criminal Police Office (BA), the German Federal Office for Information Security (BS) and the Central Directorate for Criminal Investigations (DCPJ).

“Try2Check has performed tens of millions of credit card checks per year and supported the operations of major card stores that have made hundreds of millions of dollars in bitcoin profits,” the DOJ said. said Today.

“Over a nine-month period in 2018, the site performed at least 16 million checks, and over a 13-month period beginning in September 2021, the site performed at least 17 million checks.”

The US State Department also announced today a $10 million reward under the Rewards for Justice program for anyone who can provide information leading to the capture of Kulkov, who now resides in Russia.

If convicted and convicted, Kulkov faces 20 years in prison upon arrest.

“The person named in today’s indictment is charged with operating a criminal service of immeasurable scope to fund other illicit activities with global impact,” said Patrick J. Freaney, Constable US Secret Service special in charge.

“Thanks to the cooperation and dedication of our global law enforcement community, Try2Check can no longer serve as a vehicle for the pursuit of criminal activity or illicit profit.”