Buffalo Police detective among two charged with making purchases on illicit marketplace

Correction: A previous press release provided to News 4 indicated that the two men had not yet been formally charged.

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — A Buffalo Police detective is among two men charged with making purchases on an illicit online marketplace, the U.S. Attorney announced Tuesday.

33-year-old Terrance Ciszek, the detective, is accused of purchasing 11 packages on a marketplace called Genesis Market, which authorities say uses stolen data such as computer and cell phone identifiers, email addresses, usernames and passwords from malware-infected computers around the world and packages it for sale on the market.

Ciszek is accused of making the purchases using 194 stolen account credentials between March 16 and July 29, 2020. According to authorities, he is suspended with pay from the Buffalo Police Department pending further investigation.

Another man, 41-year-old Robert Dodge of Buffalo, is accused of making 14 purchases on the market between March 26, 2020 and May 30, 2021. The stolen credentials included accounts for Paypal, Tracfone, eBay, Amazon, FedEx, Etsy, Walmart, Chase, Venmo and eTrade.

According to the assistant U.S. Attorney, the FBI has been investigating the marketplace since August 2018. Last month, the FBI raided a home on West Ferry Street as part of an ongoing investigation into Genesis Market. Buffalo’s FBI office was one of 45 field offices involved in the operation.

They were charged, in separate complaints, with possessing 15 or more unauthorized access devices. If convicted, the charge carries up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.