Users trying to buy drugs from an online marketplace might get more than they bargained for Source: News Corp Australia
THE mastermind behind Silk Road may have been found guilty of seven charges including drug trafficking, criminal enterprise and computer hacking.
However the high profile case has done nothing to slow the trade of drugs online.
Silk Road mastermind Ross William Ulbricht faces life imprisonment Source: Supplied
Within weeks of the $1.2 billion criminal enterprise first being closed in 2013, Silk Road 2.0 emerged online and successfully operated until it was shut down again in November last year as part of Operation Onymous.
Since then, the FBI orchestrated darkweb shakedown claims to have closed 400 online drug marketplaces.
Jamie Bartlett, the author of a book exploring the digital underground, believes high profile cases such as these only seem to increase the number of illegal sites and the volume of people using them.
“I think it’s a mixed bag for law enforcement,” he told The Atlantic.
“The long-term impact was the sites got smarter. They got more careful.”
Now it appears Silk Road’s two major successors, Agora and Evolution, are protecting their servers from US law enforcement by basing them overseas.
While this game of cat-and-mouse ensures the marketplace will remain active, customers purchasing illicit goods from the digital street corners will still be at risk.
Not only do customers face prosecution if caught by law enforcement, but a new online phenomenon known as an “exit scam” is starting to grown in popularity.
Essentially, by using a seller rating system based on a feedback from customers, dealers build up a good reputation on a darknet market place.
Once trusted, the supplier will stop mailing products while continuing to accept payment.
After a period of defrauding potential customers, the dealers will shut down their vendor accounts and reformat their hard drives before disappearing into the abyss.
However, it appears the guilt was too much for vendor “9TH Wonder”, who brought his exit scam to the attention of users after publishing a remorseful confession before leaving the site.
The post was picked up and reported on Reddit under the headline “9TH Wonder scamming alert (EVO)” in a hope to warn potential victims.
“I am sorry guys but I have scammed you. I am not going to try to justify it with my reasons, I am just a terrible person. I am sorry for each and every person affected, I am ashamed about the way I have deceived so many people for my own personal gain … I have not had a single gram of weed or hash in stock. That is all I had to say. After this message I will destroy my PGP key which grants me Access to Bitmessage, Lelantos and EVO,” 9TH Wonder wrote.
A quick search on the social media site shows these types of complaints are very common.
The evidence suggests while the anonymity of these sites provides comfort, it can also have negative consequences.
But then again, if you play with fire, you get burned.