A Globally Coordinated Operation Just Took Down Alphabay and Hansa

[Togijak]

On July 20, “after a globally coordinated operation” between law enforcement agencies worldwide, the United States Department of Justice announced the takedown of Alphabay and Hansa marketplace. Other countries involved in the takedown held their own press events, and one announcement in particular came with an unexpected twist. Dutch law enforcement, unaware to much of the world, took control of Hansa market since June 20. In almost a perfect honeypot operation, global law enforcement brought down two major marketplaces, caught the admin of Alphabay and owners of Hansa, and captured the addresses and identities of at least 10,000 Hansa customers.

 

In early July, Alphabay went down. Mass chaos ensued. Some called the outage a server update, some called it an exit scam, and some believed law enforcement captured the operators. Canadian law enforcement raided several locations on the same day—in search of “computer equipment.” They also spoke of an international operation wherein police in Thailand already captured a suspect. Days later, we discovered that a Canadian “computer programmer” ended his own life in a jail in Thailand. The connection to Alphabay, according to some members of the community, was obvious.

 

 

That one Canadian suspect—Alexandre Cazes—was, in fact, linked directly to the downfall of Alphabay. According to the Department of Justice documentation, the late Alexandre Cazes was known as “admin” and “alpha02.” The/an owner of Alphabay. A surprising twist for some; Cazes’s skillset fit that of Alphabay’s “DeSnake,” not the elusive alpha02.

 

And according to the agency that had taken down the child abuse website “Playpen” with an illegal hacking tool, no such technique was needed in the Alphabay investigation. Instead, according to the Complaint, Cazes’s personal email was in the header of 2014 emails that welcomed new users to the darknet marketplace. The complaint explained that the email headers contained the owner’s email address, Pimp_Alex****@hotmail.com. From there, the connection between the Pimp Alex email address and Cazes was easily established with even simple OSINT gathering techniques.

 

 

 

Prior to Cazes’s arrest, German authorities arrested the “managers” of Hansa market, a 30 year old and a 31 year old from North Rhine-Westphalia. Authorities held both men, allowing Hansa users to buy and sell as if business had not changed. Dutch law enforcement discovered that Hansa was hosted on servers in Lithuania. Officials seized the equipment and simultaneously switched the site to an “exact copy of the marketplace.” According to Motherboard, authorities received assistance from a private security company called BitDefender. Motherboard’s Joseph Cox wrote that Europol implied that the Dutch police used a hacking tool to access and effectively restructure parts of the Hansa marketplace.

 

Dutch authorities monitored Hansa while the site still functioned as a darknet marketplace. They noted the high number of sales every day:

 

“On average, 1,000 orders were made per day in response to some 40,000 advertisements. The market last year had 1765 different vendors. Since taking over the management of Hansa Market [investigators] counted more than 50,000 transactions, especially for soft and hard drugs.”

 

Additionally, they gathered identifiable information on buyers—or at least buyers who had forgotten to use PGP encryption for their name and address:

 

“Police intercepted in recent weeks tens of thousands of unencrypted messages between sellers and buyers orders. With a large number of orders the delivery address could be traced. Some 10,000 foreign addresses of buyers Hansa Market are transferred to Europol.

More than 500 Dutch shipping addresses have been reported in post and courier companies in order to stop the deliveries.”

 

 

Then, come July 4, authorities took Alphabay offline. The go-to market, for many users, was Hansa market—especially with the implementation of multi-sig transactions that would hopefully prevent buyers and sellers from losing money to the marketplace in the event of a hostile takedown or simple exit scam. Dutch police said that new registrations on Hansa spiked from 1,000 users per day to 8,000 per day. They eventually had to shut down new user registration in an effort to keep Hansa operating smoothly, reopening not long before the permanent takedown.

 

Martijn Egberts Cyber Officer of the OM said that the Prosecution seized more than $2,700,000 from Hansa because “crime should never pay.” The FBI nabbed roughly eight million from Alphabay.

 

At the DoJ announcement, the Active Deputy Administrator for the DEA announced that because of the work completed by international authorities during the Hansa takeover, police gathered information on thousands of drug buyers that could end in thousands of arrests between the US and international partners.

 

So far, there are three known arrests: the managers of Hansa and the owner of Alphabay, alpha02. Alpha02, as we previously explained, took his own life in Thailand, one hour before meeting with an extradition attorney. So, authorities in Germany have two suspects, and the FBI’s only incarcerated suspect died. Regardless, the FBI are proud of their work. And the win, for the FBI, was likely more rewarding than the Operation Pacifier conclusion. In that operation, their illegal hacking tool ruined many cases. And since they used an email address from a “welcome email” instead of an exploit to eliminate Alphabay, they might get a conviction. Of course, Alphabay marketplace never sent welcome emails—but that is another matter.

 

 

The FBI publicized a list of Alphabay identities that they had identified, including Trappy, DeSnake, Disc0, and several other members of the Alphabay “team.” From owner (DS) all the way down to public relations manager, Trappy.

 

 

And the Alphabay closure requested by many members of the community finally happened: law enforcement threw their seizure banner up in place of the Alphabay landing page. Hansa market, too, hosts a seizure banner. It indicates that whoever published the banner has a real desire to portray an image to the public: the Hansa logo was modified and the ship is now half submerged.

 

More arrests to follow, assuming the authorities told the truth.

 

Article Source

 

[Batu69]

Suspected AlphaBay founder dies in Bangkok jail after shutdown of online black market

Quote

Canadian-born Alexandre Cazes, 26, was arrested by Thai authorities on July 5 at the request of U.S. authorities, according to the Morning Herald. Known online as DeSnake, Cazes was found last week dead in his cell at the Thai Narcotics Suppression Bureau (NSB) in Laksi district of Bangkok.

 

The Bangkok Post reported Cazes was discovered in the bathroom of his cell hanging from a towel. The NSB’s Major General Soontorn Chalermkiat told the paper there are “no clues that suggest he didn’t hang himself.” Cazes was reportedly set to meet with an attorney about his extradition to the United States on drug trafficking charges an hour before his reported suicide. Another Thai official, Maj. Gen. Chayapote Hasoonha, told the Bangkok Post Cazes had been living in Thailand for about eight years and had a Thai wife. The official added Cazes’s spouse has been charged with money laundering.

 

[Agent 86]

Online drugs...lol.

Cash and old friends is all that is required.

[Togijak]

5 hours ago, Agent 86 said:

Online drugs...lol.

Cash and old friends is all that is required.

that's right but some other "things" can not be found on the next corner

[straycat19]

The cybercriminal underground took a hit this week with the shutdown of internet black market AlphaBay.

 

The Justice Department seized AlphaBay, which operated for more than two years and was a "major source of fentanyl and heroin," the agency says.

 

The site was used by "hundreds of thousands" of people to buy and sell illegal goods and services, such as drugs, stolen and fraudulent identification documents and access devices, counterfeit goods, malware and other hacking tools, firearms, and toxic chemicals, according to the DOJ. Authorities say "multiple overdose deaths across the country" have been attributed to drugs purchased on the site.

 

The US seized AlphaBay's infrastructure with the help of law enforcement authorities in Thailand, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Canada, the UK, and France, as well as the European law enforcement agency Europol.

 

Thai authorities on July 5 arrested a 25-year-old Canadian citizen, Alexandre Cazes aka Alpha02 and Admin, on behalf of the US. Authorities say Cazes was the "creator and administrator" of AlphaBay. On July 12, Cazes "apparently took his own life while in custody in Thailand," the Justice Department says.

 

Cazes had been charged in a 16-count indictment with conspiracy to: commit identity theft, engage in racketeering, distribute narcotics, commit access device fraud, and launder money. The other charges included distribution of narcotics, unlawful transfer of false identification documents, and trafficking in device making equipment.

 

According to the DOJ, Cazes and his wife "amassed numerous high-value assets, including luxury vehicles, residences, and a hotel in Thailand," plus "millions of dollars in cryptocurrency," which has been seized by the FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration.

 

Prior to its takedown, the site had more than 100,000 users and 40,000 vendors. AlphaBay was even larger than Silk Road, which was seized by law enforcement in November 2013.

 

"This is likely one of the most important criminal investigations of the year — taking down the largest dark net marketplace in history," Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement. "I believe that because of this operation, the American people are safer — safer from the threat of identity fraud and malware, and safer from deadly drugs."

 

The takedown of AlphaBay coincided with efforts by Dutch law enforcement to dismantle another prominent dark web market called Hansa Market, which was also used to sell illegal drugs, malware, and counterfeit ID documents.

 

Source

[steven36]

USA want be getting no indictment there will they? It's sad but it happens a whole lot  people who manufacture and sell drugs rather kill themselves than pull time in prison and many do. People who used this site were  crazy anyway  they go on reddit.com and discuss there business with the police . There worse than small time street dealers who flash there drugs in front of cctv and the cops. Smart dealers never sell drugs too people they don't know and never use the internet for such and they only do it inside there homes . You do it in public long enough someone is going to snitch. 

[steven36]

I'm afraid there looking in the wrong place  most of the drugs in the USA are coming in from Mexico and are prescribed by Doctors and some even come in by others in other states and sold on the street 

 

Where does heroin come from?

http://www.app.com/story/news/investigations/heroin-jersey-shore/2017/02/20/heroin-shipment-origins/98162014/

Even if they closed off the borders it still would not stop it then all the junkies would just  use synthetic prescription drugs and USA home manufactured drugs mostly.

 

Drug Deaths in America Are Rising Faster Than Ever

 

Quote

Drug overdose deaths in 2016 most likely exceeded 59,000, the largest annual jump ever recorded in the United States, according to preliminary data compiled by The New York Times.

Full story

http://www.businessinsider.com/drug-overdose-death-statistics-2017-6

 

 

[Sliuown]

R.I.P Alphabay and Hansa, I would not recommend using Dream Market for you guys who do that sort of thing, since it has been compromised too.

[Sliuown]

 I would not recommend using Dream Market for you guys who do that sort of thing, since it has been compromised too.

[oliverjia]

9 minutes ago, Sliuown said:

R.I.P Alphabay and Hansa, I would not recommend using Dream Market for you guys who do that sort of thing, since it has been compromised too.

 

These human scum should burn in hell. Morons like these should never have existed in the first place. 

[Sliuown]

15 minutes ago, oliverjia said:

 

These human scum should burn in hell. Morons like these should never have existed in the first place. 

Well some people have to use sites like that to get misclassified medicine they need, that you otherwise can't get, not talking about weed.

but yeah its mostly harmful stuff in there. 

[steven36]

28 minutes ago, Sliuown said:

Well somebody people have to use sites like that get medicine they need, that you otherwise can't get, not talking about weed.

but yeah its mostly harmful stuff in there.

LOL , me being a recovering addict and knows the streets that is the biggest bunch of BS i ever heard .The internet has turned certain people into fools and morons and  they comprise themselves by using the internet too get there fix  and even talk about it on a site that has active canary warrants in public. when drugs have been around 100s of years  before the internet and you can go up the street and buy them from people who been selling for 20 years and never got busted. When I was out there practicing i even seen little old ladies who sold them there everywhere and  that's why so many people i was close too are dead now..   And when someone in my family who is not a addict needs drugs they go too the doctor not the darknet. 

[Sliuown]

23 minutes ago, steven36 said:

LOL , me being a recovering addict and knows the streets that is the biggest bunch of BS i ever heard .The internet has turned certain people into fools and morons and  they comprise themselves by using the internet too get there fix  and even talk about it on a site that has active canary warrants in public. when drugs have been around 100s of years  before the internet and you can go up the street and buy them from people who been selling for 20 years and never got busted. When I was out there practicing i even seen little old lady's who sold them there everywere and  thats why so many people i was close too are dead now.. And when someone in my family who is not a addict needs drugs they go too the doctor not the darknet. 

If i could i would give you the biggest hug now  after all we just want the best for the people we care about.

[Batu69]

Topic has been merged.

[Togijak]

what a idiot

 

Quote

busted alphabay Admin via Hotmail address: Pimp_Alex_91

The alleged alphabay operators before one of his four Lamborghini (Picture:  Hanke.io )

The owner of the underground marketplace alphabay has left so many traces online, that it was easy for the FBI to assert his identity identified. His sports car collection and property were clean listed in a table.

The owner and admin of the underground marketplace alphabay was apparently found by the FBI because he had operated the site with his everyday Hotmail address. This sat among other things, a part of his first name (Alexandre) and date of birth (1991) together: [email protected]. He used that address not only the administrative contact for the page and automatically sent messages to newly registered users, but he had also been around for years privately in use. His company was associated with it. So the FBI had traced back long enough and link with the real identity of the cybercriminals only the digital traces.

Investigators from the US and Europe had announced last Thursday that they seized control of the underground marketplaces alphabay and Hansa Market and these were closed. After an extended downtime at alphabay many dealers and customers had migrated to Hansa. Meanwhile, it was confirmed that the Canadian operator of alphabay had taken after his arrest in Thailand in custody own life. The indictment against him shows how luxuriously he had lived before: there several sports cars, a motorcycle and several properties are listed that were confiscated during his arrest.

OPSEC Fails epic proportions

The alleged operator of the anonymous hosted in goal-line market place had not only re-used his email address. To make matters worse it keeps popping up in connection with his alphabay username (Alpha02) on which he incidentally also used for public blog entries - along with his real name. In determining name the FBI had access to the alphabay admin passwords because the suspect had deciphered his laptop. He sat in front of the device and communicating with users of the page. The FBI will have been glad easily you can hardly make it to investigators. It allowed the prosecutors to take over the alphabay server and collect as incriminating evidence on buyer and seller side.

They also made sure over 8 million US dollars in various crypto currencies, which were then transferred to Government accounts. These cars, real estate and the assets of the suspects and his wife come in multiple accounts in Thailand. The suspect had listed all his possessions neatly on the decrypted laptop in a spreadsheet. ( Fab )

 

 

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