Posted on 10/17/2019 8:58:46 AM PDT by ShadowAce
The largest dark web child pornography site in the world has been taken down. That was the word today from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, the IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), together with the National Crime Agency of the United Kingdom and Republic of Korea...
IRS-CI was able to trace bitcoin transactions to people all over the world who were uploading and downloading this material, as well as find the location of the site administrator. By analyzing the blockchain and de-anonymizing bitcoin transactions, the agency was able to identify hundreds of predators around the world - even though those users thought that they could remain anonymous.
Agents from the IRS-CI, HSI, National Crime Agency in the United Kingdom, and Korean National Police in South Korea arrested Son and seized the server that he used to operate a Darknet market which advertised child sexual exploitation videos. The site, Welcome To Video, offered these videos for sale using the cryptocurrency bitcoin: the site boasted over one million downloads of child exploitation videos by users.
The data from the seized server was shared with law enforcement agencies around the world. ... In addition to Son, 337 site users residing in 23 states (Alabama, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Washington State) and Washington, D.C. ,as well as the United Kingdom, South Korea, Germany, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the Czech Republic, Canada, Ireland, Spain, Brazil and Australia have been arrested and charged. Two users of the Darknet market committed suicide after the execution of search warrants.
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
I had to shorten it to fit FR.
Also, I edited the above excerpt to include interesting information and still get under the 300 word limit.
Bitcoin is not as anonymous as people may think....
Scatter them through the general population of any prison; as Brick-Top would say “They’ll sort them out”
Agreed. Shouldn’t take very long.
I’ve heard people say how Bitcoin is anonymous. That didn’t make sense to me, because I thought we all have an internet footprint, and that anything we do online can be traced.
That was my first thought too, finally some good news from the IRS!
Bitcoin bit the very bad people.
The point to me is not how bitcoin isn’t anonymous, but how its true and primary purpose was and is child pornography and drug deal transactions.
That’s what a blockchains such as bitcoin are designed for.
A record every transaction is included in the chain.
The trick is to keep the chain separate from yourself.
The vast majority of users don’t know how to do this or are not disciplined enough. It only takes one slip, andthe various breadcrumbs left laying around the internet can be used to track anyone down.
“its true and primary purpose was and is child pornography and drug deal transactions.”
That we know of.
How many elected officials have been bribed/bought or blackmailed due to Bitcoin?
Straight to the gallows with’em.
“we all have an internet footprint, and that anything we do online can be traced.”
From FR, Facebook to these dark sites, if we use them, we leave an electronic trail.
I thought that Bitcoin was going to be the currency of the future?
Well using FR does also leave footprints. It is all internet.
Bitcoin is still poised to be an alternative currency for the future. Its use for illegal transactions shouldn’t change that.
Yep.
And always leave your phone behind when you bury the bodies.
That is why if criminal actions such as this can be done it will put Bitcoin in a better light.
You can obtain anonymity on the net but it takes strict discipline and planning...things most will not do.
It’s a combination of hardware, software, methodology and planning.
A checklist, or even better a flowchart of action is the way to proceed lest one make a fatal error.
Correction: If the IRS can do actions that end crimes such as this, it will put Bitcoin in a better light.
Sorry, posting this from a medical office.
So when do they start catching those bit-coin using ransomware guys?
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