check if you have been hacked

On Wednesday, April 4, the FBI took down the criminal trading website Genesis Market. Millions of user profiles were sold on the site, allowing hackers to take over their victims’ digital lives. Unfortunately, data from at least two million people has already been sold, including 50,000 Dutch people. Do you want to check if you have been hacked? You can read how to do that here.

50,000 Dutch user profiles sold

The FBI and Europol, together with the Dutch police, have conducted a major international investigation into Genesis Market. As a result, 17 arrests and 23 searches were carried out in the Netherlands. Genesis Market was taken offline. Extensive research into the now closed trading website has shown that more than two million victims are probably infected, including about 50,000 Dutch people.

Lose control of your entire online life

According to Ruben van Well, team leader of the Rotterdam cybercrime team, a number of them have actually fallen victim to scams: “There are cases where a social media profile was stolen or packages were ordered on someone’s account from a webshop. But we also have victims where entire investment portfolios have been emptied or entire bank accounts and crypto wallets have been looted. In short: you lose control of your entire online life.”

Van Well takes a 71-year-old victim as an example: “This man reported completely different facts to the police several times. ‘All sorts of things were ordered in his name in web shops. Almost 70,000 euros disappeared from his investment account. Bank accounts were also opened in his name at several banks. You can imagine that something like this has an incredible amount of impact. This victim told us that he felt like he was in a large swimming pool alone and had no idea how to get out.”

Changing password is not enough

According to Van Well, replacing your password is unfortunately not sufficient in this case, “This malware is structured in such a way that this alone does not help. The criminal who has purchased your data will then simply receive an update of your new password.” That is why the police work closely with public and private parties to make and keep the digital Netherlands as safe as possible. For example, the police cooperate with various anti-virus companies and with Microsoft. Microsoft has now released an update for Windows Defender. This program can now remove the malicious software from your PC or laptop. So get your Windows updates on time.

Have you already been scammed? Then it is important to change all passwords afterwards. Below you will find our tips for strong passwords.

Related articles

Am I infected?

Do you want to know if this malware has infected your PC, for example after you downloaded something that contained the virus? Then you can go to this website of the police to enter your e-mail address. You will only receive a message if your email address is found in the dataset. If the e-mail address is not found, no message will be sent.

The well-known website Have I Been Pwned? can also check if you are one of the victims whose account details have been traded on Genesis Market.