A sting operation by the United States government brought down another large dark web market, taking with it about $ 20 million in cryptocurrency. The operation also placed 35 people into custody as well.
The agents who participated in the sting posed as money launderers who would sell their dollars for coins and then gather information about operators inside the market. Honeypots like these are the preferred method for government actors to apprehend criminals, as it leads to quick results and the arrest of incompetent individuals who fell for the scheme.
Among the other items seized as part of this sting are about 100 firearms, an impressive cache of narcotics, ASICs, $3.6 million in cash, and gold bullion.
Fifty of the market’s vendors were “found out,” even though they were operating under a system that they thought was anonymous.
It’s surprisingly easy to single out people who use technologies like Tor. For example, if they have JavaScript enabled, a skilled scripter could theoretically attach an identifier to the target individual and eventually create a profile of them.
Some social engineering could also work to the advantage of the agency, convincing buyers and sellers to reveal certain things about themselves that they thought wouldn’t give them away.
“Criminals who think that they are safe on the darknet are wrong. We can expose their networks, and we are determined to bring them to justice. Today, we arrested more than 35 alleged darknet vendors. We seized their weapons, their drugs, and $23.6 million of their ill-gotten gains. This nationwide enforcement effort will reduce the supply of deadly drugs like fentanyl that are killing an unprecedented number of Americans,” said deputy attorney general Rod J. Rosenstein.
That being said, these particular criminals were merely incompetent enough to use Bitcoin. The people who stole NEM from Coincheck, for example, used other cryptocurrencies to launder the loot through various wallets, making their trail disappear from the eyes of authorities.
This article appeared first on Cryptovest
