A stolen-account market run from Golema Rečica: the FBI praised Macedonian police, but the lead came from America

This time the US Federal Bureau of Investigation sent its congratulations to Skopje - after the arrest of 20-year-old E.A. from Golema Rečica near Tetovo, who the Interior Ministry says was the administrator of the illegal online marketplace "OLVX", a place where stolen personal data and login details for other people's accounts were bought and sold.

According to the FBI, the platform operated from 2023 to 2025 and "directly endangered the digital security of thousands of American citizens". According to the Ministry, more than 1,500 stolen access credentials were offered through it during that period - keys to victims' user accounts and computer networks, aimed at cybercriminals.

The list of suspicions doesn't stop there. Investigators found that from 2025 to 2026 the suspect also ran the "ONEMILI" group on Telegram, which offered tools and services for computer crime, including refund fraud. The gravest part of the criminal complaint sent to the Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Tetovo is the last one: the Ministry says it has gathered evidence that he obtained and possessed child sexual abuse material via Telegram.

The complaint covers computer fraud, misuse of personal data, and the production and distribution of child pornography. Both institutions are presenting the operation as the first joint, coordinated cyber operation between the Macedonian Interior Ministry and the FBI.

The praise is deserved, but the sequence says a lot. The Ministry itself admits that the case started from "information initially received from the FBI". In other words, the alleged administrator of a marketplace that hit thousands of people is from a village near Tetovo, and the trail only reached Macedonian police when the Americans came knocking on the door.

This isn't about belittling the Cybercrime Department - the job was clearly done. The question is how many other stories like this are playing out right now on home computers, with no foreign partner to notice them. And will we uncover them ourselves, or wait for the next congratulations from Washington?