HOUSTON – Authorities have seized 39 domains and associated servers linked to a Pakistan-based network of online marketplaces selling hacking and fraud-enabling tools. This action is part of an international effort to disrupt the operations of a group known as Saim Raza, also known as HeartSender. The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei, Supervisory Official Antoinette T. Bacon of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, and Special Agent in Charge Douglas Williams of the FBI.
The seizures took place on January 29 in coordination with the Dutch National Police.
An affidavit supporting these seizures indicates that since at least 2020, Saim Raza has used these websites to sell phishing toolkits and other fraud tools to transnational organized crime groups. These groups targeted victims in the United States, resulting in losses exceeding $3 million.
“Almost everyone has a friend or loved one that has been affected by these types of computer hacks,” said Ganjei. “These scams not only target businesses but individuals as well and cause significant hardship to the victims. Even though these people reside abroad, the use of these websites made it easy for them to spread their malicious hacking tools for a fee. However, today we have significantly disrupted their ability to harm others.”
The websites operated by Saim Raza functioned as marketplaces for phishing kits, scam pages, and email extractors used in fraud operations. They provided training through instructional YouTube videos on using these tools against victims, making them accessible even to those lacking technical expertise. The group advertised its tools as "fully undetectable" by antispam software.
Cybercrime actors who purchased these tools primarily engaged in business email compromise schemes tricking companies into making payments redirected to accounts controlled by perpetrators, causing significant victim losses. These domains' seizure aims to disrupt ongoing activities and halt tool proliferation within cybercriminal communities.
The investigation is being conducted by the FBI Houston Field Office with cooperation from law enforcement partners in the Netherlands.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Rodolfo Ramirez and Trial Attorney Gaelin Bernstein from the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section are prosecuting this case.