BreachForums owner Pompompurin arrested by the FBI

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has arrested an individual who claims to be Pompompurin, the owner of the infamous BreachForums hacking forum.

According to court documents, FBI Special Agent John Longmire led an investigation that resulted in the arrest of a New York man named Connor Brian Fitzpatrick who admitted to being the owner of the cybercriminal forum.

“When I arrested the defendant on March 15, 2023, he stated to me in substance and in part that: a) his name was Conor Brian FitzPatrick; b) he used the alias “Pompompurin,” and c) he was the owner and administrator of "BreachForums," the data breach website referenced in the Complaint,” Longmire said.

Fitzpatrick has been charged with conspiracy to solicit individuals to sell unauthorised access devices, which is in violation of “Title 18 of the United State Code Section 1029 (b).”

According to Bloomberg, Fitzpatrick was released from custody last Thursday on a bond of $300,000. He has agreed to appear in the District Court of the Eastern District of Virginia on March 24. Until then, he has been permitted to travel within the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York and the Eastern District of Virginia for court purposes.

Fitzpatrick has also surrendered all his documents and is presently barred from contacting witnesses, co-defendants, or co-conspirators.

Pompompurin has been a prominent member of the cybercrime world and law enforcement agencies have been trying to apprehend him for some time now. In 2021, the FBI reportedly investigated a cyber incident involving an internal server after thousands of fake emails were sent out from the server, warning recipients about a major cyber attack to be carried out by the hacker group the Dark Overlord.

The fake emails, which warned recipients about an impending cyber attack from a foreign hacker group, were worded to give recipients the impression that they were sent out by the US Department of Homeland Security. The fact that the fake emails were generated from the @ic.fbi.gov email account gave recipients no reason to believe they were fake.

Security researcher Brian Krebs, who was also a recipient of a fake email from the FBI, got in touch with an individual calling themselves Pompompurin who claimed to have carried out the hack "to point out a glaring vulnerability in the FBI’s system."

“I could’ve 1000% used this to send more legit-looking emails, trick companies into handing over data, etc. And this would’ve never been found by anyone who would responsibly disclose, due to the notice the feds have on their website,” Pompompurin said.

Pompompurin’s BreachForums is presently the preferred selling platform for cybercriminals, hosting the sale of data stolen from DC Health Link, Swiss data protection and cyber security company Acronis, and many more.