Science & Tech · Cybersecurity · 2 hrs ago
FBI seizes Virtualine domain over alleged criminal hosting and money laundering
The FBI seized Virtualine’s website domain in a coordinated operation with international law enforcement and private companies.
Virtualine, which also used names including Secury and Massgod, rented online infrastructure to customers.
Such services are called “bulletproof” hosting because providers promise to ignore abuse complaints and law enforcement requests.
Prosecutors allege Virtualine kept hosting a criminal forum that sold sexual images of minors and adults and offered account-hacking services, despite receiving notices from authorities and a victim’s lawyer.
They also say Virtualine helped the forum build another site to upload and download illicit content.
The Justice Department alleges the company accepted Bitcoin payments through a service designed to avoid anti-money-laundering checks and tried to conceal the money’s origins.
No operators have been identified and no charges were announced when the domain was seized; the sources do not say what legal steps will follow.
The seizure adds to international efforts against criminal hosting providers, though past crackdowns have led customers to move to newer services rather than ending demand.
The FBI seized the virtualine.net domain of Virtualine, a hosting provider accused by U.S. prosecutors of facilitating criminal activity.
The Justice Department said the service hosted a forum selling sexually explicit images of minors and promoting account hacking.
Prosecutors allege Virtualine kept hosting the forum after receiving complaints and helped its operators create another site for illicit content.
The department also alleges Virtualine accepted Bitcoin payments and laundered some proceeds to conceal their origin.
The seizure involved international law enforcement agencies and private sector partners.
- Who
- The FBI seized the domain; the Justice Department accused hosting provider Virtualine of facilitating criminal activity.
- What
- Authorities seized virtualine.net. Prosecutors allege the service hosted illicit content and laundered criminal proceeds.
- When
- The Justice Department announced the seizure on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, according to the articles.
- Where
- The seized domain was virtualine.net; the FBI’s Washington Field Office led the investigation.
- Why
- Prosecutors allege Virtualine supported criminal activity, including the distribution of sexually explicit images of minors and money laundering.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Virtualine allegedly boasted on HackForums about ignoring abuse complaints.
Virtualine began receiving notices about sexually explicit images of minors on a server assigned to Vendor 1 about a month earlier.
Virtualine began marketing an additional protection plan promising to move customers’ criminal infrastructure to a shell company after official law enforcement requests.
The Justice Department announced that the court-authorized seizure of virtualine.net had taken place.
- Domain
- virtualine.net
- Other names
- Secury, Massgod, Spamhouse, Lanedo and Omegatech
- Investigation lead
- FBI’s Washington Field Office
- Authorities involved
- Germany, the Netherlands and Britain
- Payment method
- Bitcoin through a service named BTC [NO-AML]
3 sources
What people are saying
ignored more abuse than your last three therapists
Virtualine ignored more abuse than your last three therapists.