Daily Crunch: US law enforcement agencies take down identity theft marketplace

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Daily Crunch: US law enforcement agencies take down identity theft marketplace

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On this beautiful June 8, 2022, we celebrate Dominic-Madori Davis joining the TechCrunch team. Check out her first article on the site and her first TechCrunch Plus feature, and give her a follow on Twitter! Woohoo, new colleagues!! — Haje and Christine

The TechCrunch Top 3

  • Shake down, take down: Several U.S. law enforcement agencies are popping bottles following an announcement that they were able to seize website domains said to belong to SSNDOB, a notorious marketplace known to be cashing in on Americans’ Social Security and credit card numbers. This group had listed information on some 24 million individuals and generated $19 million in revenue.
  • Going out on a limb: Branch may have had some struggles getting early funding, but even amid a cooling off of insurtech stocks, the company is finding its money tree is growing tall. Branch collected $147 million in Series C funding. Its tree is so tall there is now room for a unicorn to frolic underneath.
  • All the iOS 16 features that are fit to print: We know you have been following Apple’s WWDC this week, but there are so many new features that Ivan, our new consumer tech reporter, pulled together some that you may not have heard about yet.

Startups and VC

NGL, we like to bask in some solid anarchy on a Wednesday morning, and Tux has that going on in spades. Anita’s interview with them today is :chef’s kiss: well worth a read.

As markets go down, government tech spending stays steady: How can investors tap in?

piggy bank in front of american flag. government spending in tech

Image Credits: artpipi (opens in a new window) / Getty Images

Federal spending on technology is expected to hold steady even as a recession looms, and investors and startups should tap this opportunity, write Josh Mendelsohn and Mike Ference, co-founders of Hangar.

“The current government spending, much of which will only begin moving in the states as they complete their legislative sessions this summer, means that companies have a once-in-a-decade (or more) chance to enter a funded marketplace looking for new ideas.”

Since the infrastructure spending bill included $110 billion for more than 4,300 projects, “for investors, it’s an incredible opportunity to back the next wave of innovation.”

(TechCrunch+ is our membership program, which helps founders and startup teams get ahead. You can sign up here.)

Big Tech Inc.

You didn’t think you would get away from the day without some Twitter and Elon Musk news, did you? Musk’s legal team asked for more transparency on spam and bot accounts earlier this week, and now there are new reports that suggest he just might get them. It’s not going to be a neatly arranged package, though. More like a “firehose,” Amanda reports. Oh, and Twitter also dropped a new merchant teaser feature so you can let your customers set a reminder to know when a new product is on the way.

While we’re thinking about features, we have some bad news to share: GitHub has decided to send Atom out to pasture. The text editor for software development was getting on in years — it’s over 10 years old — and GitHub says it wants to refocus efforts on other tools. Despite this, we also have some good feature news. YouTube TV is expanding surround sound to additional devices — Meta’s Crayta game development platform will now enable you to play games with friends in real time.

Meanwhile: