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In December 2023, Microsoft said it obtained a U.S. court order to seize infrastructure and take offline websites used by Storm-1152, a cybercrime-as-a-service operation selling fraudulent Microsoft accounts and CAPTCHA-bypass services. Microsoft reported that fraudulent sign-ups fell by about 60%, but later said the operation re-emerged under a new name. The action disrupted key services; it did not establish that Storm-1152 had been permanently stopped.
What Microsoft seized
Microsoft said it obtained an order from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on December 7, 2023, to seize U.S.-based infrastructure and take offline websites associated with Storm-1152. In its December 13 announcement, Microsoft named Hotmailbox.me, which it said sold fraudulent Microsoft Outlook accounts, and 1stCAPTCHA, AnyCAPTCHA, and NoneCAPTCHA, which it described as tools and services for bypassing CAPTCHA-based identity checks. Microsoft also said social media pages used to market the services were disrupted.
The action targeted infrastructure and services used to make fraudulent accounts and bypass verification easier to obtain. It was not described as a seizure of every system used by the group or every account already created.
What Storm-1152 sold and why it mattered
Microsoft characterized Storm-1152 as a cybercrime-as-a-service operation: it created fraudulent accounts for sale and offered tools that helped users bypass identity checks on technology platforms. In Microsoft’s account, those services enabled other criminals to scale activity rather than representing just one attack against one target.
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Microsoft said accounts supplied by Storm-1152 were used in activity including phishing, spam, ransomware, and fraud. It specifically identified Octo Tempest, also known as Scattered Spider, as a group that obtained accounts from Storm-1152. These are Microsoft’s descriptions of the operation and its downstream use of the accounts.
Kevin Gosschalk, founder and CEO of Arkose Labs, described the operation in Microsoft’s December 13, 2023 post as a business that marketed tools openly, provided training and customer support, and functioned as a gateway for fraud. His statement underscores the service model Microsoft said it was targeting: infrastructure that lowered the effort required for other actors to acquire accounts and evade checks.
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How large Microsoft said the operation was
Microsoft estimated that Storm-1152 had created approximately 750 million fraudulent Microsoft accounts for sale and had earned millions of dollars in illicit revenue. Those figures are Microsoft’s estimates, not independently verified measurements in the sources cited here.
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On its disruption-history page, Microsoft later reported an approximately 60% reduction in fraudulent sign-ups following the action. That is Microsoft’s reported result; the figure does not by itself establish a permanent reduction or show that fraudulent sign-ups stopped.
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Did the seizure stop Storm-1152?
No evidence in Microsoft’s accounts establishes that the December 2023 seizure permanently stopped the operation. Microsoft’s retrospective says Storm-1152 re-emerged with a new site, RockCAPTCHA, and new how-to videos. Microsoft says a July action subsequently allowed it to take control of RockCAPTCHA.
The sequence illustrates both the value and the limit of infrastructure disruption: taking services offline can interrupt access and raise the cost of rebuilding, while operators may adapt, rebrand, or recreate services. Microsoft’s reporting documents a disruption and a later follow-up action, not the group’s current operational status.
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What the court action does—and does not—mean
Microsoft’s legal notice identifies the matter as Civil Action No. 23-cv-10685 in the Southern District of New York. The notice names Microsoft as plaintiff and Duong Dinh Tu, Linh Van Nguyen (also known as Nguyen Van Linh), and Tai Van Nguyen as defendants. It summarizes allegations and requested relief in Microsoft’s civil case; the notice is not itself a finding that the defendants are liable, and the materials cited here do not establish a final judgment.
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- Power that lasts all day – With 20 hours of battery life[3], the new Surface Laptop powers through your entire day, so you can create, work and stream from morning to night without reaching for a charger.
- Work at the speed of your ideas – Built with the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Elite (12 Core) processors, Surface Laptop delivers fast, AI‑accelerated performance—making it the most powerful Surface laptop for everything from multitasking to demanding workloads.
- The ports you need – Charge on-the-go, transfer data fast, or create the ultimate desktop set up with two USB-C / USB4[4] ports.
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