DarkMarket was a website used and trusted by criminals across Europe and the United States, as a place where they could buy and sell information gleaned from stolen credit cards.
The website's hosts went through several 'security' processes before allowing criminals to become members of DarkMarket, which is why it was so popular with criminal fraudsters. They felt that the stringency of the lengths their hosts went to to ensure the clientèle were 'honest criminals' made them less likely to be caught. Luckily for many future identity theft victims, that wasn't to be the case.
DarkMarket Compromised
The first DarkMarket's criminal members heard about the site becoming compromised was in September 2008, when the site's operator, who called himself Master Splynter, announced that the website was being closed down.
On a message posted on the home page, Master Splynter apparently wrote: "[R]ecent events have proven that even in our best efforts to expel and deactivate the accounts of suspected LE [law enforcement], reporters, and security agents, it is obvious that we haven’t been entirely successful."
DarkMarket Arrests
Shortly after the message was posted, Turkish hacker (also believed to be a kidnapper), Cagatay Evyapan, who went by the name of Cha0 online, was arrested. He was one of DarkMarket's administrators and was also known for selling ATM skimming devices.
This year, a 33-year-old pizza delivery man Renukanth Subramaniam from north London, pleaded guilty for his involvement in DarkMarket. Known as JiLsi on the site, he was said to be vital to the website's success and joined the site the day it was launched in November 2005.
Undercover officers infiltrated the website, posing as criminals, in 2006. So far, more than 60 criminals have been arrested for their involvement in the site.
What made DarkMarket so Successful?
DarkMarket worked so well for criminals that it was a real kudos to become a member. In return, DarkMarket offered criminals a secure payment system and various other perks, including training and offering advertising space to members.
There were also ground rules that all members had to abide by, to maintain the security and to prevent drawing unnecessary attention from law enforcement. Users were strictly forbidden from trading illegal drugs, firearms and fake money and had no concern for child pornography.
With a history on other forums of criminals being unable to trust each other, it seemed that there was some form of collective, reciprocal watch-my-back attitude among members. Exploring this would be an interesting social experiment in itself.
Crime Doesn't Pay
Despite the lengths DarkMarket's global administrators went to to protect their users, the end result was on the side of thousands of potential credit card theft victims across the world. The FBI and other secret service agencies are prepared to go to any length to to close these criminal groups down. Crime may pay, but not for long.
Sasha Arms - After graduating from university with a degree in Geography, Sasha became Managing Editor and Travel Editor of Futurespace Magazine. She ...
