A Kosovar national pleaded guilty in a US court to charges related to the creation and administration of the Rydox cybercrime marketplace.
The individual, Ardit Kutleshi, 28, was arrested in December 2024 along with two other suspects, Jetmir Kutleshi and Shpend Sokoli. He was extradited to the US last year.
Rydox was disrupted in December 2024, when the US obtained judicial authorization to seize www.Rydox.cc, the domain that hosted the marketplace. The Rydox servers were also seized, along with roughly $225,000 in cryptocurrency.
According to court documents, Rydox allowed cybercriminals to trade stolen personally identifiable information (PII), stolen payment card data, account credentials, and cybercrime tools.
At least 321,372 cybercrime products were allegedly offered on Rydox, including stolen information such as names, addresses, credentials, credit cards, and Social Security numbers, along with phishing kits, stealer logs, and spamming tools.
Rydox was estimated to have had approximately 18,000 users when taken down.
More than 7,600 transactions were made through the marketplace between 2016 and 2024, and its operators received at least $232,000 in revenue.
Kutleshi pleaded guilty to identity theft and money laundering conspiracy charges and is scheduled for sentencing on February 9, 2027.
He faces two years of mandatory prison for the aggravated identity theft and up to 20 years in prison for money laundering.
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