Is the dark web real? We were curious too, so we did some investingating and this is what we found.

In 2013, independent researcher Chris Monteiro got himself on a “list.” While perusing the dark web via Tor, he came across the Assassination Market, a site that allowed users to place bets on the death and date of any individual. If they guessed correctly, they'd get a payoff.

Chris was shocked — not just by the discovery of a possible assassination site, but also by the bounty listed for Barack Obama. It was only $15,000. Wasn't a U.S. president worth more than the price of a used sedan? Chris posted this to his Facebook page:

Only $15,000 to assassinate Obama wtf?

Obviously, Chris was kidding. He quickly deleted the post, but it was too late. Facebook had probably flagged his profile, and law enforcement would likely be monitoring his future Facebook activity.

But Chris didn't really care. As a cybercrime researcher and digital rights activist, he spends more time on the dark web than most. And a big chunk of that time is spent debunking the urban legends of this cryptic Internet underworld.

Should we believe the hype that hitmen are really for hire on the darkest corners of the Internet? In this exclusive TruthFinder interview, Chris clears the air on what types of illicit activity you can actually find on the dark web .

The Dark Web Vs. Darknets

Darknets are networks that can only be accessed with specific software, like Tor or I2P. On top of darknets are websites collectively known as the dark web (or sometimes the deep web).

A darknet market, sometimes called a cryptomarket, is a type of commercial website on a darknet. They sell and broker transactions for drugs, counterfeit money, forged documents, stolen credit card information, unlicensed pharmaceuticals, weapons, and other goods.

Types Of Crime On The Dark Web

The dark web is meant to be anonymous. And anonymity is good for the following crimes:

Drug Trafficking

Until the FBI shut down the Silk Road in 2013, it served as the largest darknet market for the sale of illegal drugs and unlicensed pharmaceuticals. Since then, many markets have come and gone. The former market leader Agora shut down last year. AlphaBay is currently the largest market.

Fraud

Carding fraud refers to the structures and processes of stealing and laundering credit card, bank account, and personal information online. To pull it off, criminals first hack into merchant websites or point of sale systems to steal credit card data. Then they sell their stolen batches of credit card info to other scammers running market sites or carding forums. Finally, these batches are laundered for cash.

Bitcoin Scams

Bitcoin is the currency used on the dark web. It's mostly untraceable, so it's also a logical currency for cybercriminals. Here are two examples of Bitcoin scams on the dark web:

Proxying

Tor hides its IP addresses so a user can't be tracked or identified. However, Tor's anonymity also makes the user vulnerable to attack. The URL of such a site doesn't use or display the typical 'HTTPS' that indicates a secure site (like https://www.truthfinder.com) on a normal ‘clear net’ website. So, to make sure they're on a legit site, the user either has to bookmark the Tor page or trust the link that directed them to the site.

For this website proxying ruse, a scammer tricks the user into thinking they're on the original page. They'll edit the links that lead to the Tor site (like a hidden wiki listing or Reddit forum), and redirect that link to their scam site. So, when the unsuspecting Tor user deposits Bitcoins into what they assume is a legit site, that currency gets funneled to the scammer instead.

Onion Cloning

Cloning is a similar tactic to proxying. A scammer may make a full copy of the real website — a blog, drug market, or any site that doesn't require a login — and update the links so that the user gets redirected to their scam site.

Arms Trafficking

Gun sales have experienced a rise and fall on the dark web. In the U.K., for instance, law enforcement has made enough high-profile arrests that many cybercriminals see gun trafficking as too risky.

Chris has also researched Russian and Ukrainian forums for purchasing tanks, rocket launchers, firearms, and C4 explosives. These forums aren't in English, and they aren't typically open to Westerners.

"But if you're based out of Eastern Europe, and you want to buy lots of dodgy sh**, that's the place to be," Chris says.

Child Porn

Child porn definitely exists on the dark web. (One study found that it generates the most traffic to hidden sites on Tor.) Fortunately, child porn is fairly difficult for the average Joe to find. Unless you're a Jared Fogle in the making, you probably won't stumble across these disturbing Dark Web sites on accident.

Information Leaks

Because darknets such as Tor are based on anonymity, they can be a useful resource for whistleblowers, activists, law enforcement, and privacy advocates. They're also convenient places for vigilante hackers to dump sensitive data.

Remember last year's Ashley Madison hack? To the horror of some 32 million Ashley Madison customers, a hacker group posted their credit card, account, and login details as a 9.7 gigabyte data dump on the dark web.

Types Of Cyber Crime You Can't Find On The Dark Web

The dark web is a goldmine for overblown conspiracies and urban legends. Despite what you've read, there are certain types of criminal activity that you won't uncover on the dark web.

Contract Killers

Assassination Market, the dark web site that valued Obama's death at $15K, quietly shut down in 2014. Even while it was up, no one was assassinated and nothing ever got paid out because it was a scam.

Other dark web sites claim to have hitmen for hire, but Chris confirms that none of them are legit.

"We can finally say definitively, you cannot get someone killed via the Internet," Chris says.

Torture

A Red Room is a mythical dark web site that allegedly allows users to watch and/or participate in live interactive torture or murder. It's a great idea for a post-apocalyptic horror film, but it doesn't actually exist on the Internet — let alone the dark web.

Human Trafficking

Human trafficking is a very real problem. But it's an underground industry that doesn't get advertised on the dark web.

Revenge Porn

You don't need to enter to the dark web to find revenge porn. Despite Google's best efforts to curb revenge porn sites, they're easily found on the normal internet — which means they're not in as high demand on the dark web.

The Mythos Of Dark Web Crime

The dark web is rife with cyber crime. But it's more rampant with sensationalized myths about assassination and torture schemes — which, as Chris can attest, simply aren’t true.

"What's interesting is so much of the coverage of these scam sites is taken at face value. Like, ‘There is a website. Therefore its contents must be true.' Even when mainstream media picks it up, very few pick it up skeptically," he says.

Take the Assassination Market, for example. When news outlets got wind of its alleged existence in 2013, they ran with the idea of "Murder-for-hire!!" on the Internet underground. Although Chris has finally demonstrated that these sites are not real, their legend lives on in Internet folklore.

"Talking about the facts — this is how cybercrime works, this is how Tor and Bitcoin work — is a lot less sexy than saying, 'If you click on the wrong link, you'll be kidnapped, and you'll end up in a room where you'll be livestreamed, murdered, and you're all over the internet!'" Chris says.

"All I can do is point out what’s proven and what isn’t."

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