While the Dark Web does host illicit activity, the hitman-for-hire market is almost entirely composed of scams and law enforcement traps. Law enforcement agencies around the world have been hesitant to collaborate with Monteiro or use his evidence because of the way he acquired it. After breaking into the Besa Mafia site and a few others, Monteiro found information about 283 people who had paid for hit-man services. He also found messages suggesting that the operators had little intention of going through with the killings.
One gray afternoon in November 2020, I’m on a video chat with my colleague Carl Miller, a technology researcher and author. We’re speaking to a woman from Switzerland, who I’ll call “Elena.” She’s middle-aged, with brown hair and glasses. But we’ve called to deliver some news that’s about to change her life. While the hitman-for-hire myth might be somewhat overblown, it’s essential to maintain sight of the real dangers on the Dark Web. Cybercrime is a genuine threat, affecting countless individuals and businesses worldwide.
We even found “testimonials” pages that were just links to murders covered in the news. We were able to find follow-up articles on these cases in which local gang-members were arrested. It is advisable to report the offer to law enforcement rather than engage with such individuals. From the Middle East through Europe and into the United States, we seem to have entered an era of increased assassinations. There were the targeted decapitations of Hamas and Hezbollah (beep-beep!), the murder of a Russian general in Moscow, the murder of Brian Thompson in New York, and a pair of near-misses with Trump. Therefore, murder isn’t only justified, but it’s also a moral imperative.
FOLLOWING THE DIGITAL FOOTPRINT
If you believed he was who he said he was — the owner of a site that arranged murders using a network of operatives all over the world — he would be pretty scary. As it was, he was simply a conman who scammed would-be murderers out of their bitcoin and never carried out any hits. The first person we deployed that strategy with was Elena, the woman in Switzerland.
Warning: Contains Blurred Screenshots And Descriptions That Some Readers May Find Unsettling
The man who apparently cornered the market in contract killings, sent “48 Hours” a video diary. As Allwine’s murder trial approached in January 2018, authorities were winding down their investigation. We wanted to learn more about the shadowy figure behind the Besa Mafia site. And he says it was a woman after all – or at least someone claiming to be — who tried to get Amy to commit suicide just months before authorities found her dead.
- On many of the sites examined by the team at Michigan State, considerable effort was expended trying to prove their legitimacy so customers would feel comfortable making a payment in Bitcoin, the digital currency.
- Sydney reluctantly agreed, and she handed the little girl to the man who had paid money to kill them both.
- Another Crime Bay user in Denmark, an Italian-born woman called Emanuela Consortini, was arrested thanks to an NCA tip-off and then sentenced to six years in jail for commissioning the murder of an ex-boyfriend.
- It had been bought on a website where users had to register with a photo ID.
- The only document they consulted was an A3 printout on which Monteiro had summarised the intricacies of Besa Mafia’s operation.
The Dark Web Hitman: Myth Or Reality?
Of course, that could be down to the care of professional killers to not getting caught. Whilst there are many illegal activities occurring on the dark web, we believe hitmen-for-hire sites are mostly scams. We decided to investigate dark web sites offering hitmen and similar services to learn a bit about what they promise, and for how much they are potentially scamming would-be murder solicitors. Most dark web hitman services are fraudulent, with little to no possibility of successful outcomes. Criminal services include the purchase of firearms, illegal drugs, counterfeit money, stolen data, cyber attack software, and the hiring of hitmen.
Bitcoin Services
Customers submitted the details of the person they wanted killed and the method they preferred – for instance, a hit that looked like an accident would be more expensive. To prove they had the wherewithal to pay, they were required to make an advance bitcoin transfer to a digital wallet – from which, the website assured, its clients would be able to withdraw their funds any time. There is a website, though – a succession of websites, to be precise – where all those things are made out to be true. Looking for a hitman, they download Tor, a browser that uses encryption and a complex relaying system to ensure anonymity, and allows them to access the dark web, where the website exists.
“We use ricin in most of our jobs and due to its nature which does not raise a lot of suspicion,” the representative said. “Most customers order from reliable hit men sites that have been proven as legitimate,” the site says. While most of us may agree that not having dark mode activated is a crime in itself – it seems like we all need to remember to not blindly believe everything we read. ‘Pizzabagel’ explained that one of the biggest positives of the dark web is that it allows journalists and individuals in heavily censored countries to safely access and share otherwise restricted information. To those who are not aware, a red room refers a completely red room where you can see horrific acts of violence (think murder, torture, mutilation).
News Releases And Statements
“There has never been a murder definitively attributed to dark-web hitmen.” Birthed from rot, driven by greed, and nourished by human pain. “He was just thirsty for money,” bRspd told me. “He’s a big liar, he doesn’t care about anything but money. Almost all the conversations I had with him included the word ‘money’ or bitcoin.” According to Monteiro’s analysis of Besa Mafia’s bitcoin wallets, Yura might have amassed nearly £5m. According to Clarksville PD’s case reports, on June 8, Njoroge, a 21-year-old Texan on leave from the Fort Knox base, stole a gun from a shooting range, American Shooters, in the town’s north-west.
How Do Dark Web Hitmen Operate?
A major garda investigation is underway into an alleged attempt by a garda to hire an assassin on the dark web to murder his former partner. In the Tennessee case, Brandon States pleaded not guilty in the plot to kill Sydney Minor. Just 13 days ago, Sydney gave birth to their baby, a daughter named Saylor. Either way, the most dangerous thing about him may be his customers — some so driven to kill that if Yura doesn’t get the job done, they might do it themselves … like prosecutors allege about Steven Allwine. Pellouso then confronts Beau with the dark web kill order telling Yura, “Look I need this f—–g person dead.” After several hours of driving around, the detectives find the van at a Starbucks parking lot.
Wilson said these sites took attention from the real crime being committed on the dark net, like the drug markets and the sites selling the sensitive personal information of millions of Americans. A few months ago, a middle-aged executive in Singapore was sent to jail for five years after paying the Camorra Hitman site to kill the boyfriend of his young ex-lover in a staged car accident that, not surprisingly, didn’t happen. “Investigations are ongoing, and the NCA will continue to work with international law enforcement partners to identify users of sites like these,” said Lucy Sneddon, a spokeswoman for the agency. The most prolific research on these sites has been conducted by Chris Monteiro, a systems administrator in London who has pursued his investigations as a morbid passion project on top of his regular job. The site 18th Street Mafia includes a page with links to news stories about real killings it says it helped commit. None of the articles, however, indicate that the site, or even a hit man, was responsible.
- The next myth ‘Pizzabagel’ busts is that of hitmen for hire being readily available on the dark net.
- If you believed he was who he said he was — the owner of a site that arranged murders using a network of operatives all over the world — he would be pretty scary.
- The term dark web hitman evokes a mix of intrigue and horror.
- They were about to take a drive, maybe get some food, when Stern’s phone buzzed.
Wan then transferred an additional Bitcoin payment worth nearly $8,000 to the marketplace. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan James Wan, 54 used cryptocurrency to pay for the murder-for-hire plot. However, the FBI successfully intercepted Ilg’s communications on the dark web and thwarted his plans.
Augur’s debut immediately gave rise to a spate of new assassination markets and death pools, the vast majority of which were almost certainly created as stunts. Even financial transactions are made anonymously on the dark web, says prosecutor Kreuser. Ormsby’s research led her to a like-minded colleague half a world away in London.
