Cybercrime Supersite 'DarkMarket' Was FBI Sting, Documents Confirm

http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/10/darkmarket-post.html

by mariorz • 18 years ago

18 10 18 years ago

blog.wired.com

henning• 18 years ago

love the printed out LOLcat picture in the lower right-hand corner of the office picture - http://blog.wired.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/10/13/ncfta_...

louislouis• 18 years ago

love how the head FBI agent was called 'Master Splynter'. Awesome.

jcl2• 18 years ago

From the article linked at the bottom of the article:

"DarkMarket is the only survivor among the handful of crime forums that emerged to fill the hole left by the Secret Service's "Operation Firewall" in October 2004. In that unprecedented law enforcement crackdown, the agency used an informant to target what was then the top crime site, Shadowcrew.com."

I think it's hilarious that the leading crime forums have been sting operations for the last several years. How long before criminals start assuming this is the case by default?

utnick• 18 years ago

I'm sure they already do assume that, but an eastern european browsing off of his neighbors wifi and 7 proxies probably doesnt care that the fbi is running the forum as long as it works.

jcl2• 18 years ago

True, but some of them must be operating with faulty assumptions, since otherwise the government derives little utility from running the site.

bigthboy• 18 years ago

When reading this I begin to remember an article I read on MSNBC some time ago about a sting operation in which several criminals (not violent ones, just ones wanted for robberies of various sorts) were identified and traced but were evading law enforcement. To solve this problem, police sent them priority mail, from the Police Department mind you, informing them that they had all won brand new 42" HDTVs, among other prizes, and that they needed to show up at a local mall at such and such date/time in order to claim their prize. Every single one of them showed up and were arrested upon walking in the door.

irinotecan• 18 years ago

That's surprisingly a pretty common sting. I've heard it used to nab deadbeat dads by getting them to all come to a stadium to "collect the prize they won".

Herring• 18 years ago

I wonder if it's possible to solve this with something like a web of trust.

manny• 18 years ago

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darknet_(file_sharing)

Cybercrime Supersite 'DarkMarket' Was FBI Sting, Documents Confirm

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