Incognito Market’s Extortion Scheme and Lin’s Dark Web Schemes
The dark web drug market Incognito has shocked its former users with a brazen act of extortion never seen before in the underground world of online drug dealing. The market, known for its apparent user-friendliness and security features, has now turned the tables on its customers by threatening to leak their messages and transaction records unless they pay a hefty fee to have their data removed.
According to a message sent out by Incognito, users were informed that a “whitelist portal” would be created where they could pay a fee, which for some dealers would later be set as high as $20,000, to prevent their incriminating information from being leaked online by the end of the month. The message explicitly stated, “YES THIS IS AN EXTORTION!!!”
Experts in the dark web community, like Ormsby, believe that the market’s user-friendly facade may have been a long con to lull users into a false sense of security before carrying out this unprecedented extortion scheme. In total, Incognito Market threatened to leak over half a million drug transaction records if users did not comply with their demands.
The alleged mastermind behind this scheme, Lin, also known as Pharoah in the dark web community, had previously attempted to launch a service called Antinalysis, designed to help users evade anti-money laundering investigations by analyzing blockchains for potential criminal connections. After facing scrutiny from cybersecurity reporter Brian Krebs, Pharoah’s service went offline briefly before rebranding as a bitcoin-to-monero exchange platform.
Despite his efforts to stay ahead of law enforcement, Lin’s activities caught the attention of authorities, leading to his recent arrest in New York. His LinkedIn profile, showcasing his certification in blockchain analysis tools, sheds light on his deep involvement in cryptocurrency tracing and dark web market activities.
The saga of Incognito Market and its alleged extortion campaign serves as a stark reminder of the dangers lurking in the shadowy corners of the internet, where criminal enterprises operate with impunity until they are brought to justice.
