A Polish national has been arrested and is facing charges of fraud and money laundering after his web hosting company, LolekHosted, was seized by authorities. The company is alleged to have been used by criminal hackers due to its reputation as a secure and “bulletproof” platform.
“Bulletproof” web hosting services are known for being used in various hacking activities, including ransomware attacks, phishing, and brute-force attacks. These services provide a platform for hackers to carry out their illegal activities.
The U.S. government seized the LolekHosted.net domain on Tuesday with a warrant issued by the U.S. District Court. The owner of the hosting company, Artur Karol Grabowski, now faces charges of computer fraud conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy, and international money laundering.
If convicted, Mr. Grabowski could be sentenced to up to 45 years in prison and would be required to forfeit $21.5 million in alleged criminal proceeds. Currently, he is considered a fugitive.
The Department of Justice accuses Mr. Grabowski of facilitating criminal acts by his clients, including allowing them to register accounts with fake information, frequently changing the IP addresses of the company’s servers, not logging client IP addresses, ignoring abuse claims against his clients, and warning clients about authorities’ inquiries.
The DOJ also revealed that LolekHosted had hosted the NetWalker ransomware, which targeted around 400 victims in approximately 50 attacks worldwide. The victims included municipalities, companies, hospitals, schools, colleges, universities, and law enforcement agencies. The hackers behind these attacks received over 5,000 bitcoins in ransoms, equivalent to approximately $146 million at current rates.
LolekHosted allegedly acted as an intermediary for these attackers and provided a digital storage space for their hacking tools and stolen information from victims.
