The US Department of Justice has indicted Denis Gennadievich Kulkov, a Russian citizen accused of running a credit card checking operation that reportedly generated tens of millions of dollars. Kulkov allegedly founded the Try2Check underground service in 2005, which became popular among cybercriminals in the illegal credit card trade.
Try2Check was taken down following a joint operation between the US government and law enforcement partners in Germany and Austria, including the Austrian Criminal Intelligence Service, the German Federal Criminal Police Office (B.A.), the German Federal Office for Information Security (B.S.), and the French Central Directorate of the Judicial Police (DCPJ).The Try2Check service was used by those who dealt with the bulk purchase and sale of stolen credit card numbers and needed to check which cards were valid and active.
The defendant victimized not only credit card holders and issuers but also a prominent US payment processing firm whose systems were exploited to conduct the card checks.
Try2Check reportedly ran tens of millions of credit card checks per year, supporting the operations of major card shops that made hundreds of millions in bitcoin profits.
The US State Department has also announced a $10 million reward through the Rewards for Justice program for anyone who can provide information leading to Kulkov’s capture. If found guilty and convicted, Kulkov faces 20 years of imprisonment.
US Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Patrick J. Freaney has stated that the individual accused of operating this criminal service had immeasurable reach to fund further illicit activity with global impact.
