Although many readers–perhaps the majority of them–visit this site directly, some of them find the site through search engines. A staggering number of users find Darknetlive through relevant Google searches. The searches reveal interesting patterns in the behavior of darkweb users. For instance, even though Nightmare Market exit scammed a month ago, there are more searches for the market than for any other market within the last 28 days.
The White House announced actions to crack down on fentanyl trafficking in the United States through recent private-sector advisories addressed to domestic and foreign businesses in the private sector. The announcement and advisories specifically highlight the role played by both darkweb marketplaces and cryptocurrencies in the international opioid trafficking arena.
Yanyan Lesser pleaded guilty in a New York federal court to attempting to hire a hitman over the darkweb to put her ex-boyfriend in a wheelchair. According to information revealed in court, Lesser had paid the fake “murder-for-hire” site $7,000 in Bitcoin before Homeland Security Investigations Received a tip and launched an investigation into the Lesser.
In darkweb and cryptocurrency investigations, federal law enforcement agencies routinely rely on the skills and services provided by threat intelligence and blockchain analysis companies such as Flashpoint or Chainalysis. The Drug Enforcement Agency recently awarded Chainalysis with a $134,970 contract for a one year license to their platform and services.
Sky Justin Gornik, a 39-year-old from San Diego, California, was sentenced to 70 months in prison for selling dozens of different controlled substances on the darkweb. He previously admitted conspiracy to launder money through an array of cryptocurrencies including Monero, Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Stratis.
The administrator of the German darkweb forum Deutschland im Deep Web (DIDW) was sentenced at the district court of Karlsruhe to six years in prison for crimes linked to the forum and to the 2016 Munich shooting. Federal Court rejected the convicted forum administrator’s appeal and finalized the sentence.
Ben Handley, a 25-year-old from Homer, Alaska, admitted selling illegally modified Glocks over the internet, according to a recently submitted plea agreement. The government accused him of using the darkweb and “darkweb email addresses” to ship all least 12 illegally modified firearms to one or more customers in the United States.
A 25-year-old living in Vienna allegedly made regular purchases on the darkweb and resold the drugs to local customers. After German law enforcement intercepted a package containing 130 grams of amphetamine, Austrian police raided the suspect’s house, interrupting a drug deal.
Empire Market staff member Se7en posted an updated warning about phishing links amidst the ongoing battle between the marketplace and scammers stealing thousands of dollars from users by spreading malicious links. The links, as noted in previous warnings, send unsuspecting users to a phishing proxy that looks and acts like the real market.
A San Luis Obispo County jury found Beau Evan Brigham guilty of one count of solicitation of murder for hire. Brigham, the 33-year-old defendant, had asked a fake hitman on the darkweb to kill his step-mother.