Global cybercrime crackdown: Over 373,000 dark web sites shut down

On 9 March 2026, a global operation led by German authorities and supported by Europol was launched against one of the largest networks of fraudulent platforms in the dark web.

The investigation began in mid-2021 against the dark web platform “Alice with Violence CP”. During the investigation, authorities discovered that the platform’s operator was running more than 373,000 fraudulent websites advertising child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and cybercrime-as-a-service (CaaS) offerings.

From 9 to 19 March 2026, 23 countries joined forces in ‘Operation Alice,’ which initially only targeted the platform operator. However, through international cooperation, the investigation uncovered the identities of 440 customers who had used the operator’s services. Due to the nature of the purchases, additional investigations were launched against them. The operation is still ongoing against more than a hundred of those individuals.

Read more at Europol