OGUsers (OGU) is an Internet forum that facilitates the discussion and buying of

social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...

accounts and online

usernames A user is a person who uses a computer or network service. A user often has a user account and is identified to the system by a username (or user name). Some software products provide services to other systems and have no direct end users ...

. Established in 2017, the website is dedicated to the buying and selling of "rare" or " OG" online accounts that are considered valuable due to their name or age. The website acts as a platform for

cybercrime Cybercrime encompasses a wide range of criminal activities that are carried out using digital devices and/or Computer network, networks. It has been variously defined as "a crime committed on a computer network, especially the Internet"; Cyberc ...

and the

harassment Harassment covers a wide range of behaviors of an offensive nature. It is commonly understood as behavior that demeans, humiliates, and intimidates a person, and it is characteristically identified by its unlikelihood in terms of social and ...

of individuals for access to their online accounts. Several high-profile incidents have been linked to the forum, most notably the

2020 Twitter account hijacking On July 15, 2020, between 20:00 and 22:00 UTC, 69 high-profile Twitter accounts were reportedly compromised by outside parties to promote a bitcoin scam. Twitter and other media sources confirmed that the perpetrators had gained access to Twitt ...

Incidents

The site has been linked to various

SIM swap scam A SIM swap scam (also known as port-out scam, SIM splitting, simjacking, and SIM swapping) is a type of account takeover fraud that generally targets a weakness in two-factor authentication and two-step verification in which the second factor or ...

s, where discussion took place on

identity theft Identity theft, identity piracy or identity infringement occurs when someone uses another's personal identifying information, like their name, identifying number, or credit card number, without their permission, to commit fraud or other crimes. ...

methods to change login information for online accounts. Graham Ivan Clark, regarded as the "mastermind" behind the

, was a former member of the forum. Two participants, Mason Sheppard and Nima Fazeli, acted as brokers in selling of

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

handles on the website. In 2020, a man from

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

died from a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

during a

swatting Swatting is a form of criminal harassment that involves deceiving an emergency service (via such means as hoaxing an emergency services dispatcher) into sending a police or emergency response team to another person's location. This is achieved ...

. An individual in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

was attempting to coerce the man for an online username by utilizing tactics of the site, with him later being sentenced to five years in prison.

Security breaches

The website was hacked in May 2019, with the administrator of RaidForums uploading the database of the website for anyone to access. In December 2020, the website was hacked again with user data being stolen.

Reception

Brian Krebs Brian Krebs (born 1972) is an American journalist and investigative reporter. He is best known for his coverage of profit-seeking cybercriminals.Perlroth, Nicole.Reporting From the Web's Underbelly. ''The New York Times''. Retrieved February 2 ...

, an American journalist and

investigative reporter Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, racial injustice, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend ...

known for the coverage of cybercriminals, has described the forum as a place "overrun with shady characters who are there mainly to rip off other members." In his report, he described how

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

, and Twitter have taken steps to crack down on users of the forum involved in the trafficking of hijacked accounts. Facebook told Krebs that the forum uses various tactics, such as harassment, intimidation, hacking,

coercion Coercion involves compelling a party to act in an involuntary manner through the use of threats, including threats to use force against that party. It involves a set of forceful actions which violate the free will of an individual in order to i ...

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit (e.g., money or goods) through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, although making unfounded ...

sextortion Sextortion (a portmanteau of ''sex'' and ''extortion'') employs non-physical forms of coercion to extort sexual favors from the victim. Sextortion refers to the broad category of sexual exploitation in which abuse of power is the means of coercio ...

, SIM swapping, and swatting.

References

{{Reflist Crime forums Internet properties established in 2017

Incidents

Security breaches

Reception

See also

References