Phishing Darknet Users for Bitcoins

https://shufflingbytes.com/posts/ripping-off-professional-criminals-by-fermenting-onions-phishing-darknet-users-for-bitcoins/

by campuscodi • 3 years ago

102 60 3 years ago

shufflingbytes.com

buildbuildbuild2• 3 years ago

PSA: Stealing is illegal.

HWR_142• 3 years ago

PSA: Many criminals enforce 'don't steal from us' in with punishments that are more brutal and with a lower procedural protections than the state does.

buildbuildbuild2• 3 years ago

Is someone depositing and withdrawing from a darknet market without transacting a criminal? Internationally?

Are all buyers of substances the U.S. controls inherently “professional criminals”?

Does the belief that someone is a criminal justify taking their money?

(I trace cryptocurrency professionally, depositing is key to identifying clusters and it sure is nice to get the money back)

newaccount74• 3 years ago

Only if they catch you.

bryanrasmussen2• 3 years ago

This is of course an obvious side effect of having to protect one's criminal resources from as large a potential criminal threat as the state does without the state's resources.

willcipriano5• 3 years ago

PSA: Applying a consistent moral code when others refuse to do the same leaves you at a competitive disadvantage. It's better to play by the rules of whomever you are playing with. A thief likes to play the theft game. Murders like to play the murder game. Normal people play the polite society game. Play the game that is currently being played, not the game you think everyone should be playing.

EscapeFromNY2• 3 years ago

If someone is buying weed on a darknet site, would you feel morally justified in stealing from them?

lelanthran2• 3 years ago

PSA: Applying a consistent moral code when others refuse to do the same leaves you at a competitive disadvantage. It's better to play by the rules of whomever you are playing with. A thief likes to play the theft game. Murders like to play the murder game. Normal people play the polite society game. Play the game that is currently being played, not the game you think everyone should be playing.

I've no idea why parent was voted down[1]; presumably a large number of people both object to "do unto others as they do unto you" AND are too shy to reply.

[1] Honestly, in the last few days the voting of comments seem completely out of tune with how comments normally get voted. I'm seeing immediate downvotes of comments, which, over time, sometimes normalise. It's very odd.

michaelmior2• 3 years ago

It's better to play by the rules of whomever you are playing with.

This depends significantly on how you define "better." If I become a thief by stealing from thieves, I would not consider that to be a net positive outcome for me.

JohnFen2• 3 years ago

Amazing. In one fell swoop, you argued that it's OK to murder and steal.

Needless to say, I could not disagree with your stance more strenuously.

sobkas2• 3 years ago

PSA: Applying a consistent moral code when others refuse to do the same leaves you at a competitive disadvantage. It's better to play by the rules of whomever you are playing with. A thief likes to play the theft game. Murders like to play the murder game. Normal people play the polite society game. Play the game that is currently being played, not the game you think everyone should be playing.

Problem is that your perception of what kind of game is played might be wrong. And you treat people that don't deserve* more harshly or people that deserve* more lenient.

*deserve your intended outcome

loeg2• 3 years ago

s/PSA/Tl;dr/ (the fine article covers this, at the end)

George83728• 3 years ago

You're correct and the other responses you've got miss the mark. While stealing for thieves might be morally or ethically defensible (in some moral or ethical frameworks), it IS still illegal. You can go to prison for it. Your PSA is warranted.

For your comment to be not just downvoted but also flagged for saying something true is a farce.

draw_down• 3 years ago

As usual, if I’m reading about it like this it’s too late to try.

This is fun to think about though, it’s like being Omar from “The Wire”. As the author points out, different targets have differing moral valence.

loeg2• 3 years ago

People have run phishing schemes against Darknet targets almost as soon as the concept existed. It's both "too late" (in the sense that it's no longer novel and everyone expects it) and, apparently, not too late (in the sense that attackers keep thinking it will be worth their time).

Tepix• 3 years ago

The captcha anti-phishing scheme the darknet site bohemia came up with is really smart!

cwillu2• 3 years ago

Full title: Ripping Off Professional Criminals by Fermenting Onions - Phishing Darknet Users for Bitcoins

Had the second half been used as the truncated title, I would have saved myself the click: I was hoping for something related to onion futures or some such.

msla• 3 years ago

I thought it was about making really disgusting moonshine.

AlbertCory2• 3 years ago

Me, too. I thought "Strawberry wine: fine. Blueberry wine: fine. Onion wine: no thanks."

psychphysic• 3 years ago

Absolutely also the writing is very tedious.

cwillu2• 3 years ago

I wouldn't be shocked if the text was created in a similar manner to the images.

idontwantthis• 3 years ago

What's this got to do with the price of onions? Unfortunately, nothing.

bobthepanda• 3 years ago

Onion futures are banned in the US: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onion_Futures_Act

sobkas2• 3 years ago

Onion futures are banned in the US: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onion_Futures_Act

So that only criminals have onion futures. And we all know that to stop a bad guy with onion futures you need a good guy with onion futures.

dang• 3 years ago

Ok, let's use the second half in the title above. Thanks!

paulpauper• 3 years ago

it's simple to test: send a little. if it's legit it will work. who is gonna send entire stash in one tx to a site?

Scoundreller2• 3 years ago

Or it works for small amounts and then selectively fails for large amounts sent from wallets that already sent small amounts.

Robotbeat• 3 years ago

The main reason why not to rip off professional criminals is you’re likely to be shot.

nimbius• 3 years ago

from an infosec perspective, im surprised no ones brought up how stupid dangerous this is.

crypto mixers and ransomware groups frequently have ties to organized crime, so the list of people you are "ripping off" could include formidably dangerous groups like the black axe mafia. If you really are ripping off "professional" criminals, you clearly havent considered their moral turpitude or your own personal safety.

TheIronMark• 3 years ago

Doing it on Tor is probably fine. Writing a blog about it with your name, however, is unwise.

victorbjorklund• 3 years ago

Wouldn't be surprised if someone else rips off some criminals and they get angry at this guy just because the way it is done is similar.

Scoundreller2• 3 years ago

I thought crypto mixers were run by the Feds?

thatguy09002• 3 years ago

You probably don't want to be bragging about stealing money from the feds too much either

AlbertCory2• 3 years ago

As others have pointed out:

Good thing: criminals don't go to the law when you rip them off.

Another good thing: You don't suffer any moral qualms about stealing their money.

Not so good: they kill you instead

alexanderh• 3 years ago

The big problem I have with this, is that: are drug dealers and organized money launderers professional criminals? who are taking advantage of people, and spreading suffering? Yes, they are.

But lots of regular ol' struggling drug addicts use these services, to get generally much safer drugs than on the streets, under much safer circumstances.

Sure, everyone who uses these types of markets and services is (usually) committing a crime, but I think its a bit much to call everyone you'd wind up taking advantage of here a "professional criminal". And that thinking just sorta feeds the stigma and condemnation of drug addicts who are struggling and just want to be safe, and are already taken advantage of by society enough.

I don't think you can say this is 100% morally sound. Unless you're super mindful and careful about it, you'll have collateral damage of people who aren't bad people, even if they are doing illegal things.

themoonisachees• 3 years ago

This exact thought is talked about in the article.

Phishing Darknet Users for Bitcoins

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