Crime forum

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A crime forum is a generic term for an Internet forum specialising in computer crime and Internet fraud activities such as hacking, identity theft, phishing, pharming, malware or spamming.

During the early days of the Internet, public dial up BBSes would serve to put miscreants in touch with one another to share tips of credit card fraud, hacking and other illicit services. [1]

By the 2000s and the rise of the modern internet, modern internet forum software was preferred, with private invite-only sites being the most long lived. Sites like ShadowCrew, counterfeitlibrary.com and the Russian language carderplanet.com would specialise in various illegal activities before each eventually succumbing to law enforcement action. [2]

By 2015, notorious forums such as Darkode would be infiltrated and dismantled prior to returning with increased security. [3]

As of July 2015, there are estimated to be several hundred such forums. [4]

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cybercrime</span> Type of crime based in computer networks

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phishing</span> Attempt to trick a person into revealing information

Phishing is a form of social engineering where attackers deceive people into revealing sensitive information or installing malware such as ransomware. Phishing attacks have become increasingly sophisticated and often transparently mirror the site being targeted, allowing the attacker to observe everything while the victim is navigating the site, and transverse any additional security boundaries with the victim. As of 2020, it is the most common type of cybercrime, with the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Centre reporting more incidents of phishing than any other type of computer crime.

The Australian High Tech Crime Centre (AHTCC) are hosted by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) at their headquarters in Canberra. Under the auspices of the AFP, the AHTCC is party to the formal Joint Operating Arrangement established between the AFP, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation and the Computer Network Vulnerability Team of the Australian Signals Directorate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ShadowCrew</span> Cybercrime forum (2002–2004)

ShadowCrew was a cybercrime forum that operated under the domain name ShadowCrew.com between August 2002 and November 2004.

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Internet fraud prevention is the act of stopping various types of internet fraud. Due to the many different ways of committing fraud over the Internet, such as stolen credit cards, identity theft, phishing, and chargebacks, users of the Internet, including online merchants, financial institutions and consumers who make online purchases, must make sure to avoid or minimize the risk of falling prey to such scams.

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Max Ray Vision is a former computer security consultant and hacker who served a 13-year prison sentence, the longest sentence ever given at the time for hacking charges in the United States. He was convicted of two counts of wire fraud, including stealing nearly 2 million credit card numbers and running up about $86 million in fraudulent charges.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dark0de</span>

dark0de, also known as Darkode, is a cybercrime forum and black marketplace described by Europol as "the most prolific English-speaking cybercriminal forum to date". The site, which was launched in 2007, serves as a venue for the sale and trade of hacking services, botnets, malware, stolen personally identifiable information, credit card information, hacked server credentials, and other illicit goods and services.

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Operation Shrouded Horizon was an 18-month international law enforcement investigation culminating in the July 2015 seizure of Darkode, an online cybercrime forum and black market, and the arrest of several of its members. The case involved law enforcement agencies from 20 countries, led by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) with the assistance of Europol, in what the FBI called "the largest-ever coordinated law enforcement effort directed at an online cyber criminal forum".

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Carding is a term describing the trafficking and unauthorized use of credit cards. The stolen credit cards or credit card numbers are then used to buy prepaid gift cards to cover up the tracks. Activities also encompass exploitation of personal data, and money laundering techniques. Modern carding sites have been described as full-service commercial entities.

Pakbugs was a Pakistani-based security forum offering security releases updates, discussion of hacking, credit card fraud, phishing and other forms of computer crime; as well as trading in malware, bank login details and stolen credit card numbers. The forum was shut down after multiple raids by Pakistani Federal Investigation Agency on its members in 2010, in which five individuals were arrested, with the alleged founder suspected to remain at large in Riyadh.

Ghana has one of the highest rates of cybercrime in the world, ranking 7th in a 2008 Internet Crime Survey. The most popular form of cybercrime in Ghana is cyberfraud and is typically achieved via credit card fraud. However, recent decreases in universal credit card usage has seen the expansion of other cybercrimes such as blackmail and hacking. This growth in crime has warranted a government response, with policies specifically addressing the cyberspace being developed. This has necessitated various studies including a cyber security maturity study which was inaugurated by the Ministry of Communications and conducted by the Global Cyber Security Capacity Center (GCSCC) of the University of Oxford in collaboration with the World Bank.

References

  1. "Credit Cards for fun and profit!". textfiles.com .
  2. "The Rise and Challenge of Dark Net Drug Markets" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 March 2019. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  3. Clark, Lian (28 July 2015). "Hacker forum Darkode is back and more secure than ever". Wired.
  4. Cobb, Stephen (27 July 2015). "Cybercrime update: take downs, arrests, convictions, and sentences" . Retrieved 23 August 2015.