Anonymity and untraceability can be helpful in illegal applications on the Dark Web. But not all activities in the Dark Web are related to criminality, it has also been largely used to escape and avoid government censorship, dig in studies forums, and conspiracy theories.
Ever wondered what can be found in the Dark Web?
Here is a list of crazy stories you didn’t know from the Dark Web.
1. Counterfeit Currency
Back in 2014, a North American man called Zackary L. Ruiz, was using Mr.Mouse as a username, offering falsified notes of dollar bills on Reddit.
Although Reddit is a platform where we can reach on the surface web, the deal with Mr.Mouse was arranged on the Dark Web forums where members discussed the counterfeit bills and shared tips on how best to buy, pass, ship and distribute counterfeit.
Mr.Mouse was part of an international ring of cyber conspiracy and illegal activities between the United States and Uganda.
His activities were dedicated to the manufacturing, selling, buying, distribution and passing of counterfeit Federal Reserve Notes (FRNs) across the USA.
The fake dollar notes produced by Mr.Mouse were so well done that they could pass security tests such as the counterfeit pen test and ultraviolet light.
The counterfeit currency sold by Mr.Mouse was being advertised, bought, and sold through online criminal forums and websites, and then passed in coffee shops and corner stores across Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The hacker offered a minimum package of $500 worth in notes of $100, $50 and $20.
Although Mr.Mouse made tons of dollars with the illegal product, he ended up sentenced to prison by a Pittsburgh federal judge over an international counterfeit currency ring in 2016.
2. Stolen Private Information
As crazy as it sounds, malicious websites are providing both free and paid access to company databases, stolen credit cards, malware, and more private information.
One of the most common items bought on the Dark Web is private information which can be used to create false identities, social security numbers, the odd bit of blackmail, banking loans, money transfers, and all sorts of financial fraud.
On the Dark Web, it is possible to buy even login information for services like Netflix and Amazon Prime, Spotify, and YouTube premium.
The known Collection #1 combined with the Collection 2-5 gave away for free, the total number of 2.2 billion hacked user unique accounts and passwords.
In 2019, over 620 million accounts were stolen from 16 hacked websites and were offered for sale on the Dark Web according to Forbes.
The hacker published the private details on the Dream Market, which is one of the most popular marketplaces in the Dark Web.
The stolen data information was located in the Tor browser for the price of almost $20,000 in Bitcoin.
The list of websites that had their users information stolen are:
| Dubsmash | MyFitnessPal | MyHeritage | ShareThis |
| HauteLook | Animoto | EyeEm | 8fit |
| Whitepages | Fotolog | 500px | Armor Games |
| BookMate | CoffeeMeetsBagel | Artsy | DataCamp |
To avoid vulnerability after getting your personal data stolen, consider using different passwords to each online account, mainly the ones associated with a single email address. ‘
Having the same combination of words and letters can put you in danger of having your access to different websites intercepted by hackers.
3. A Way Through Censorship on the Internet
The Dark Web, although highly connected to illegal and criminal activities, is also an essential space for freedom of expression.
It is important to note that a large number of Tor’s users are not necessarily accessing the Dark Web for illegal purposes.
Oftentimes, users are located in a country that doesn’t have open and free access to the internet. In that case, these people use the Dark Web to browse the surface net anonymously.
Hardly anyone associates the Dark Web with topics such as whistleblowers, freedom of speech and expression, and peace movements. Without the Dark Web, WikiLeaks would not exist. Through the anonymity provided by the Tor Browser, files can be easily encrypted and uploaded anonymously.
North Korea and China are probably the best-known examples of countries where social media such as Facebook are totally blocked, having their own version of the social media which is controlled by the government.
Russia and Iran are two other countries that are expanding the censorship of the internet.
In Belarus, the use of social media is prohibited, the media is censored, and journalists are constantly having their accreditations taken away, even the foreigners. Therefore, the Dark Web has been an important ally in current protest movements in the Belarusian demonstrations against President Alexander Lukashenko.
The Dark Web has become an essential alternative form of communication tool that can go past government censorship in countries where the majority of the population have their freedom and opinion discredited.
4. Imperial Library of Trantor: Darknet & Ebooks
Imagine a library where all the knowledge of mankind has been collected and is available for download for free? That is what Trantor Library is. The online collection has over 128,000 epubs for free from diversified subjects.
The creator behind the Imperial Library of Trantor is Las Zenow, an avid reader himself that aims to bring global access to culture and knowledge. He created the website in the Dark Web due to copyrights of the books he provides for free.
The entire collection is mostly uploaded by users and Tor provides anonymity for the librarians and all visitors. Whoever uploads, reads, or downloads any book on the website has their identity secured.
Therefore, neither the library nor any other malicious entity can find or trace who downloads what.
In times where there are still governments that prosecute and condemn people for what they read or think, also communities of people whose identities are prohibited, having access to information under anonymity is vital.
Being an anarchist, a female prohibited from having access to education or even being a gay person should never stop people to seek culture and knowledge.
Everyone should always have the right to read what they like without being prosecuted or despised for what they read.
The Imperial Library of Trantor provides ePub format ebooks as they are flexible, open, and support many different devices.
5. The Rise of Dark0de Marketplace
The Dark0de marketplace is one of the fastest growing dark web stores in the world.
Originally the marketplace has been on the dark web for a long time. But due to its vulnerable security the marketplace was identified and sized by the government.
The Dark0de marketplace was relaunched in the year 2020. It has about 13k products listed to date.
The mission of Dark0de marketplace is to be the ecommerce hub of the dark web.
As for the security, the owners of Dar0de have made it pretty clear that they aren’t gonna fall in any traps laid out by the government this time.
The owners say that any sensitive data related to any customer or dealer is held on the marketplace for a very short span of time and then it vanishes forever.
Here’s the Dar0de marketplace link if you’re curious.
