US-Dutch Action Targets ‘Pakistani’ Cybercrime Network

WASHINGTON: In a significant international operation, US and Dutch authorities have allegedly dismantled a Pakistani cybercrime network accused of selling hacking tools and fraud-enabling services to criminals worldwide.

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) identified the network as HeartSender, allegedly led by an individual known as Saim Raza. While the DOJ did not disclose personal details about Raza or his whereabouts, it stated that the Pakistani cybercrime network operated online marketplaces for over a decade, facilitating phishing, malware distribution, and large-scale financial fraud.

As part of Operation Heart Blocker, law enforcement agencies seized 39 domains and associated servers used by the alleged network. The DOJ estimated that these platforms caused financial losses exceeding $3 million in the US alone.

“These scams not only target businesses but individuals as well, causing significant hardship to the victims,” said US Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei. “Even though these individuals operate from abroad, their websites made it easy to distribute malicious hacking tools for a fee. However, today we have significantly disrupted their ability to harm others.”

The group allegedly created and sold phishing kits — software designed to mimic legitimate login pages for platforms like Microsoft 365, Yahoo, AOL, Intuit, iCloud, and others. These fake pages tricked victims into entering their usernames and passwords, which were then stolen and sold on underground markets.

Their flagship service, HeartSender, was an advanced spam delivery system that allegedly enabled criminals to send mass phishing emails while bypassing security filters. The software was available both as a web-based platform and as a downloadable Windows executable.

On Friday, search results for the website heartsender.com returned the message: “This website has been seized,” alongside a DOJ notice.