Feds Shut Down Silk Road Black Market, Owner Arrested

[Usr6]

Even during a federal government shutdown, drug pirates aren’t safe. Popular online black market Silk Road has been shut down by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and an individual alleged to be its infamous owner, ‘Dread Pirate Roberts,’ has been arrested, according to a Federal Bureau of Investigation complaint.

Krebs on Security uploaded a photo of Silk Road apparently shut down by an FBI raid and has since published the full government complaint. It alleges that Ross William Ulbricht, a San Francisco resident, is the mastermind behind the Silk Road, and the ‘DPR’ behind its booming marketplace of activity for narcotics and other illicit goods, the most famous use of the open-source electronic money known as Bitcoin.

The FBI calls Silk Road in the complaint “the most sophisticated and extensive criminal marketplace on the Internet today,” used by several thousand drug dealers and with revenue of over 9.5 million Bitcoins to date, which the FBI approximates as worth $1.2 billion in sales. (Bitcoin values fluctuate widely over time, making any comparison difficult.)

Ulbricht has been charged with one count of narcotics trafficking conspiracy, computer hacking conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy. The full complaint linked to above is worth a read, but it appears that agents found Ulbricht after Canadian border authorities routinely checked a package intended for his San Francisco home and discovered nine fake identification cards within, which Ulbricht allegedly was seeking to obtain to rent more servers to power Silk Road as it massively expanded.

The man behind Silk Road’s commission on the activity, the FBI alleges, has totaled 600,000 Bitcoins, or about $80 million by its own conversions.

For the best account to date of the Dread Pirate Robert’s life, formerly behind the scenes, check FORBES’ cover story, “The Man Behind Booming Black Market Drug Website Silk Road.” In the story, DPR, or Ulbricht as the FBI now claims, told Andy Greenberg he couldn’t communicate outside of the underground anonymous Tor software system through which he operated Silk Road, noting: “The highest levels of government are hunting me, I can’t take any chances.”

In a separate interview, DPR told Greenberg that he hadn’t started Silk Road but had taken over for Silk Road’s true founder, who was “well compensated” for the switch and remained active. The name ‘Dread Pirate Roberts’ is a reference to the character from the movie ‘Princess Bride,’ who also mentions having predecessors by the same name. If DPR’s claim to Greenberg is true that he was not the first administrator on the site, it’s possible that the government’s manhunt is not over.

It appears that looking to purchase identification may have been that unnecessary chance that has put an end to the current DPR’s run, but there were other holes in the system. FORBES also purchased marijuana over the Silk Road market and found its purchases could be traced.

Keep an eye for updates to this story.

Sursa: Feds Shut Down Silk Road Black Market, Owner Known As 'Dread Pirate Roberts' Arrested - Forbes

[Sithalkes]

Era de asteptat.

[robyyxx]

Cum naiba l-a prins daca avea site .onion?

Cel mai posibil e ca stiu metoda de decripatare + alte chestii. Deci si tor este compromis

[shaggi]

// nu stiam despre ce e vorba, am citit in primul post ca cumpararea e traceable, si m-am gandit la metoda de plata. Imi cer scuze daca am jignit vreun fan de-al tipului.

Edited October 2, 2013 by shaggi

[aphex]

Primele posturi pe internet pe care le-a facut facand publicitate sitului au dus la contul lui de gmail bun cat si la adevarata identitate.

[thepro]

@robyyxx metoda de plata era nesigura

Bitcoin?

[Brenin]

@robyyxx metoda de plata era nesigura

vorbesti prostii, daca nu intelegi ceva, nu iti mai da cu parerea.

Scrie mare de tot, l-au prins din PROSTIE !!!! Trecea granita in Canada, si l-au luat la o verificare simpla, unde au gasit 6 id-uri false printre alte lucruri.