[2019-09-16] Darkweb criminals launder cash for bitcoin at pennies for dollar

[bbc.reporter]

Scammers scamming other fellow scammers. Let us wait until those criminals selling cash for bitcoin discover that bitcoin is not anonymous hehehe. They might pay for $0.01 on the dollar for Monero or Grin transactions hehe.



The second annual research report by cloud security provider Armor shows that criminals are selling cash for bitcoin on darkweb marketplaces at a substantially reduced rate.

According to the report, Armor researchers examined 12 different hacker marketplaces over the course of five months and determined that cash was being sold for bitcoin at pennies on the dollar. The report states that darkweb markets are thriving despite the continued crackdown on their existence.

More concerning for crypto users was the discovery that criminals were using bitcoin to aid in laundering stolen funds.

The report says,

One of the cleverest services spotted was where a criminal can pay a seller $800 in Bitcoin and have $10,000 transferred to a bank account of their choice or wired to them via Western Union, a seamless turn-key money laundering service.

While 12 cents on the dollar may appear a poor exchange for illicitly obtained funds, the Armor report claims it poses an attractive avenue for less experienced criminals.

Chris Hinkley, head of Armor’s TRU team, explained,

For those scammers who don’t possess the technical skills and a robust money mule network to monetize online bank account or credit card credentials, this is an offer that can be very attractive...this clever service gives them an additional channel for monetizing the large amounts of financial data available on the underground.

Read in full https://www.cryptoglobe.com/latest/2019/09/dark-web-criminals-are-laundering-cash-for-bitcoin-at-pennies-on-the-dollar/

[Kakmakr]

It would be interesting to see how many of these transactions are done with Monero and Dash compared to Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash. I have to be honest, I saw all the FUD about the Darkweb and Bitcoin and I went in there to experience it for myself. The majority of the sites I saw was not for Bitcoin and more for Dash and some for Monero. 

A lot of the sites even accept credit card payments which was strange, but I reckon a lot of these credit card purchases are done with stolen credit cards. <The people receiving the money via credit card payments must have used fake ID's or they are part of organized syndicates with fake businesses.> 

It was a weird experience and the things on offer was mind blowing. <I would not touch it with a 10 feet pole> 

[hv_]

This is reason why  the crypto markets needs to be 'shut' down and only most transparent regulated P2P BitCoin must survive this.

Or - we will see another global shut down for all crypto - see Liberty Reserve

[figmentofmyass]

This is reason why  the crypto markets needs to be 'shut' down and only most transparent regulated P2P BitCoin must survive this.

good luck with that. for every dark web market they shut down, a half dozen pop up to replace it.

Or - we will see another global shut down for all crypto - see Liberty Reserve

liberty reserve was a centralized money transmitter business. troll harder.

[o_e_l_e_o]

It would be interesting to see how many of these transactions are done with Monero and Dash compared to Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash.

Every time a story like this pops up, I take a look at the most recent data and news articles, and every time they say something different. It is difficult enough to get numbers of bitcoin transactions taking place on the dark web; it's impossible to get numbers of monero transactions. Some reports say that monero is the most offered payment option, but actually monero payments rank below bitcoin and litecoin in terms of volume.

This is reason why  the crypto markets needs to be 'shut' down and only most transparent regulated P2P BitCoin must survive this.

This is reason why the internet needs to be shut down and only the most transparent regulated P2P connections must be allowed to survive.
This is reason why encrypted communication needs to be shut down and only the most transparent regulated plain text emails must be allowed to survive.

[hv_]

It would be interesting to see how many of these transactions are done with Monero and Dash compared to Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash.

Every time a story like this pops up, I take a look at the most recent data and news articles, and every time they say something different. It is difficult enough to get numbers of bitcoin transactions taking place on the dark web; it's impossible to get numbers of monero transactions. Some reports say that monero is the most offered payment option, but actually monero payments rank below bitcoin and litecoin in terms of volume.

This is reason why  the crypto markets needs to be 'shut' down and only most transparent regulated P2P BitCoin must survive this.

This is reason why the internet needs to be shut down and only the most transparent regulated P2P connections must be allowed to survive.
This is reason why encrypted communication needs to be shut down and only the most transparent regulated plain text emails must be allowed to survive.

Why does this happen at all after ur logics?

https://cryptonews.com/news/okex-korea-axes-privacy-coins-as-south-korean-purge-intensif-4654.htm

All ICOs needs to be removed as well, or do you want the SEC to clean things up?


https://www.investopedia.com/news/sec-chair-says-bitcoin-not-security/


Self regulation has to be done. Or govs will do it , like for Liberty Reserve - doesn't matter what techy args u have or how u define 'decentralized' -   (global) lol  !

>> https://coingeek.com/us-treasury-cryptos-must-adhere-to-tough-market-regulations/

It is not about some text msg in the internet - it's getting a GLOBAL finacial product with all implications.
So better learn what that means - or shut up ur anno anarcho scams

[LUCKMCFLY]

In this other source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/800-bitcoin-buys-10-000-cash-on-dark-web-turn-key-money-laundering also highlights such an event, although
it is difficult to follow each transaction in the world for amounts from $ 800, it should be noted that on the dark web there are pages where they make bitcoin almost impossible to track and another way is to pass it to Monero, it is usually a money laundering, but by changing it in a little Bitcoin or another cryptocurrency, to the market all this is helpful, because to make such a transaction for Paypal and get rid of that money, it is because the hackers themselves know that bitcoin and crypto in general will soon have a bullish rally.

[gentlemand]

I must be having a slow day.

I pay someone $800 in Bitcoin and they send me $10,000 in cash via methods that aren't very traceable. That sounds like a jolly good deal. Um, what's in it for the person who accepts the BTC other than a vast deficit?

[o_e_l_e_o]

Um, what's in it for the person who accepts the BTC other than a vast deficit?

Laundering.

The people selling $10,000 are selling stolen money. This is largely from hacked bank accounts or credit cards. They can't just transfer this money to themselves. Even using something like Western Union to wire the money to themselves is going to look pretty obvious once they've done it a couple of times. So instead they wire it to other people in return for bitcoin. They never actually have to touch the money themselves, and it is never in any account owned by them - they simply transfer it from the real owner's account to the buyer's account. Far less risky. And it's not really a deficit because it's not their money to begin with. For them, it's $800 of profit.

You can read the full report here: https://cdn.armor.com/app/uploads/2018/10/2019-Q3-Report-BlackMarket-SinglePages-1.pdf

Additionally, this arrangement works well for the cybercriminal selling the stolen funds because, ultimately, he or she is not taking possession of the funds but merely transferring them, which puts the majority of risk on the scammer buying the money. With the glut of online bank credentials and credit cards (which can be used to wire money via Western Union) for sale on the underground markets, it came as no surprise to the TRU team that the cybercriminals would figure out additional ways to monetize these illicit goods.

[1Referee]

Even if majority of cryptocurrency community hate ICO and dark market, they can't do anything to stop ICO/dark market aside from discourage those.

It's a fantastic thing that dark markets can't be stopped, because that's exactly the whole purpose of it. The freedom that it offers also attracts the scummiest entities to utilize it to their advantage, but there just isn't a way to stop this. People are afraid of dark markets because the emphasis has always been on murderers, terrorism, etc.

I'm personally not against people buying/selling weed and whatnot through dark markets, and let this be what most people use them for. I know someone who regularly buys shrooms for personal use. Nothing wrong with that.

[bbc.reporter]

@1Referee. The darkweb attracts the scummiest entities, however, who said that the banking system is not run by the scummiest entities also hehehe.

The people are not afraid of the men who fund wars that create debt to make the banks richer. The harmless bankers.

[Somebody random]

Governments let this happen in all aspects. Not just Bitcoin.

[NeuroticFish]

Just a small point they've missed in the news... how many million dollars are laundered via crypto and how many are laundered with old fashion methods?
Of course, nobody has reliable numbers, but I think that the part done with crypto is only a drop of water in an ocean.

[buwaytress]

Did Armor actually test any of these services?

They realise there are scores of these so-called Paypal/WU/Skrill etc for BTC services popping up every day, right? And they're generally just scammers with nothing to sell.

You can see their ads pop up right here on the forum every now and then:

Here's one post that missed being deleted: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1926006.0

They've all used almost the exact same copy from the 1990s, used to be WU for Paypal, then for e-gold, not for Bitcoin. Outright scams, not actual hackers with money to launder or hacked bank accounts to sell.

[Harlot]

I agree on what Kakmakr said. Bitcoin's activity in the dark web have decreased through the years since the silk road days. Criminals in the dark web have became smarter now and has shifted to a more anonymity focused coins like the monero and dash and even the authorities are the ones who have said it. Bitcoin is not anonymous as we think really even countries can issue a blacklist on addresses related to illicit activities that is also the reason why some of them have shifted in a lesser known crypto as well as a more anonymous one.

[serjent05]

@1Referee. The darkweb attracts the scummiest entities, however, who said that the banking system is not run by the scummiest entities also hehehe.

Rightly said  .  Bank system is the most scummiest entities worst they were backed by government and laws.

I agree on what Kakmakr said. Bitcoin's activity in the dark web have decreased through the years since the silk road days. Criminals in the dark web have became smarter now and has shifted to a more anonymity focused coins like the monero and dash and even the authorities are the ones who have said it.

It does since many of those who traded Bitcoin in the dark web learned it the hard way that Bitcoin is not fully anonymous.  So now they are using anon coins and tokens, so we just need sometimes for these anonymous coins to be shutdown too.  It is just a matter of time before these kind of cryptocurrency (anonymous) declared illegal.

Just a small point they've missed in the news... how many million dollars are laundered via crypto and how many are laundered with old fashion methods?
Of course, nobody has reliable numbers, but I think that the part done with crypto is only a drop of water in an ocean.

It is indeed that the old fashioned method of money laundering is far more greater than the cryptocurrency related.  Just think about the adoption ratio of this two method and yet they are more alarmed when cryptocurrency is involved because for them it is a new thing.   

[o_e_l_e_o]

Did Armor actually test any of these services?

There's nothing mentioned in the report I linked to above to suggest that they bought or attempted to buy any of the services they are reporting on, including all those which use bitcoin or other cryptocurrency. As you say, there is no shortage of scammers on the clear web, so why would there be a shortage on the dark web, where it is essentially impossible to take any real action against spammers. This essentially sounds like the twitter scam of "Send 0.5 ETH to get 5 ETH back", but with extra steps. I would, however, be surprised if every one of the services or trades that are mentioned in the report are scams.

I'm not exactly familiar with trading illegal services on the dark web. Are escrows a thing?

[1Referee]

@1Referee. The darkweb attracts the scummiest entities, however, who said that the banking system is not run by the scummiest entities also hehehe.

The people are not afraid of the men who fund wars that create debt to make the banks richer. The harmless bankers.

If I had a sMerit left I would have given it to you. I couldn't have said it any better.

Don't forget that this directly applies to governments collecting taxes as well. People often treat Bitcoiners with a strong anti taxation opinion as tax evaders and thus criminals, but they have no clue about how much of their money is used to finance proxy wars and whatnot. Bitcoiners can now decide not to pay tax, or less tax than before because no one can freeze their balance if they avoid using centralized services.

The mainstream media is doing an extremely good job dedicating a lot of its time to the wrong criminals.  

[figmentofmyass]

It's a fantastic thing that dark markets can't be stopped, because that's exactly the whole purpose of it.

But government could with enough time, money and effort. The real problem (for government) are there are too many dark market and mostly are small market.

no, they really can't. it takes years for governments to build cases sufficient to convict anyone. the risk is obviously worth it for DNM vendors. after each round of DNM takedowns, the market only ever grows larger. from the dozens of smaller markets, one or two of them always steps up to become the next silk road or alphabay.

it's a never ending cycle that governments are clearly losing:
Feds Dismantled the Dark-Web Drug Trade—but It's Already Rebuilding
Despite Setbacks, Darknet Markets Show Continuous Growth in 2019

[bbc.reporter]

@1Referee. The darkweb attracts the scummiest entities, however, who said that the banking system is not run by the scummiest entities also hehehe.

The people are not afraid of the men who fund wars that create debt to make the banks richer. The harmless bankers.

If I had a sMerit left I would have given it to you. I couldn't have said it any better.

Don't forget that this directly applies to governments collecting taxes as well. People often treat Bitcoiners with a strong anti taxation opinion as tax evaders and thus criminals, but they have no clue about how much of their money is used to finance proxy wars and whatnot. Bitcoiners can now decide not to pay tax, or less tax than before because no one can freeze their balance if they avoid using centralized services.

The mainstream media is doing an extremely good job dedicating a lot of its time to the wrong criminals.  

The government and the banks are always working together. They give money to the politicians and help them be elected to different levels of positions in government. The government borrows money from the bank for their wars, the most popular in America is the war on drugs.

The people are taxed to pay for all of it.