Two men arrested in Aberdeen and Glasgow after global Genesis Market dark web crackdown

Police have arrested two men in Scotland in connection to a global operation to target the biggest dark web marketplaces in the world.

The specialist Cybercrime Unit carried out the arrests after search warrants were conducted in Dunfermline, Glasgow, Carluke and Aberdeen.

The international probe into Genesis Market, which sold stolen credentials to criminals worldwide, led to the website being taken down.

The site, one of the most significant of its kind in the world, sought to defraud victims and hosted approximately 80 million credentials and digital fingerprints stolen from over two million people across the globe.

Details including online banking, Facebook, Amazon, PayPal and Netflix account information were up for sale alongside so-called digital fingerprints containing data from the victims’ devices.

Globally about 120 people were arrested and more than 200 searches carried out.

The UK operation follows an investigation of the site by the FBI and Dutch National Police and forms part of international action in 17 countries.

Two men in Scotland, one aged 31 from Aberdeen and another aged 43 from Glasgow, have been arrested by Police Scotland’s specialist Cybercrime Unit.

Detective inspector Andy Mclean, of Police Scotland’s Cybercrime Unit, said: “The action taken in this country underlines Police Scotland’s committed to tackling all forms of serious and organised crime and we know those involved are increasingly using the internet for their own gain.

“We will continue to work in partnership with law enforcement agencies in this country and abroad to target and disrupt this sort of activity.”