The founder and operator of BreachForums, Conor Brian Fitzpatrick, received a sentence of time served and 20 years of supervised release for his involvement in running the cyber crime website.
Fitzpatrick, who used the online nickname “pompompurin,” was captured in March 2023 in New York and faced charges of conspiracy to commit access device fraud and possession of child pornography. He was later freed on a $300,000 bond, and in July 2023, he admitted to the charges.
BreachForums was a major online platform for trading stolen data since March 2022. Before it was shut down a year later, the website had over 340,000 members.
The website offered various types of stolen data, such as bank account information, Social Security numbers, personally identifying information (PII), hacking tools, breached databases, and account login information for hacked online accounts with service providers and merchants.
BreachForums also promoted services for accessing victim systems without authorization. The website affected millions of U.S. citizens and hundreds of U.S. and foreign companies, organizations, and government agencies.
Fitzpatrick also ran a “Leaks Market,” where he acted as a trusted intermediary (i.e., escrow) between users on the website who wanted to exchange hacked or stolen data, tools, and other illegal material.
“Fitzpatrick also allegedly operated an ‘Official’ databases section where BreachForums directly sold access to verified hacked databases through a “credits” system managed by the platform,” the U.S. Department of Justice stated.
Court records obtained by DataBreaches.net indicate that Fitzpatrick’s mental health may have influenced his sentence. Prosecutors suggested a 15-year prison term for the defendant a day before sentencing.
The 21-year-old is expected to spend the first two years of supervised release on house arrest with a GPS location tracker and receive mental health treatment. He has also been ordered to avoid using the internet for the first year and register with the state sex offender registration agency in any state where he lives.
The amount of restitution Fitzpatrick has to pay for victims’ losses has not been decided yet. Earlier this month, Fitzpatrick was imprisoned for breaking the terms of his pre-sentencing release by using an unmonitored computer and a virtual private network (VPN).
However, the illegal service did not stop after law enforcement seized the domains in March 2023. In June 2023, BreachForums was revived by the notorious ShinyHunters group, who were previously active on the Raid Forums, the takedown of which led to the launch of BreachForums.
