HOUSTON, Texas — Authorities have seized 39 domains linked to a Pakistan-based network selling hacking and fraud tools, disrupting the operations of a group known as Saim Raza. The seizures were announced 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 operation, conducted on January 29 in coordination with the Dutch National Police, targeted websites used by Saim Raza since at least 2020 to sell phishing toolkits and other fraud-enabling tools to transnational organized crime groups. These tools were used to target victims in the United States, resulting in over $3 million in losses, according to an affidavit filed in support of the seizures.
“These scams not only target businesses but individuals as well and cause significant hardship to the victims,” said Ganjei. The websites operated as marketplaces for tools such as phishing kits and scam pages, and even provided instructional YouTube videos on their use, making them accessible to criminals lacking technical expertise.
The tools were primarily used for business email compromise schemes, redirecting payments to accounts controlled by perpetrators. The seizure aims to disrupt ongoing activities and stop the proliferation of these tools within the cybercriminal community. The FBI Houston Field Office is leading the investigation, with significant assistance from law enforcement partners in the Netherlands.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Rodolfo Ramirez and Trial Attorney Gaelin Bernstein of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section are prosecuting the case.
