Alamdar Hamdani U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas
A coordinated international operation has led to the seizure of 39 domains and their associated servers, disrupting a Pakistan-based network selling hacking and fraud-enabling tools. This network, operated by a group known as Saim Raza (also known as HeartSender), was targeted 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 collaboration with the Dutch National Police. According to an affidavit supporting these actions, Saim Raza had been using these websites since at least 2020 to sell phishing toolkits and other tools enabling fraud to transnational organized crime groups. These activities resulted in over $3 million in losses for victims across the United States.
“Almost everyone has a friend or loved one that has been affected by these types of computer hacks,” said Ganjei. He noted that such scams target both businesses and individuals, causing significant hardship for victims.
The websites run by Saim Raza functioned as marketplaces advertising tools like phishing kits, scam pages, and email extractors often used in fraudulent operations. The group also provided training through instructional YouTube videos on how to use these malicious programs against victims, thus making them accessible even to those lacking technical expertise. The tools were marketed as “fully undetectable” by antispam software.
Transnational organized crime groups primarily used these tools for business email compromise schemes where they tricked companies into redirecting payments into accounts controlled by perpetrators, leading to substantial financial losses for victims. The domain seizures aim to disrupt ongoing criminal activities and halt the spread of these tools within cybercriminal circles.
The investigation is being conducted by the FBI Houston Field Office with significant cooperation from law enforcement partners in the Netherlands. Assistant U.S. Attorney Rodolfo Ramirez and Trial Attorney Gaelin Bernstein are prosecuting the case.
