Feds use facial recognition to take down million dollar dark net counterfeit site

http://www.dailydot.com/crime/dark-net-counterfeiting-charged/

Community-X, a Ugandan-based hidden service coming out of the TCF, went down last year. The suspects were charged today, they face about 45 years in prison on the maximum possible sentences.

The fake name Gustafson used, Jack Farrel, was hardly hidden. Police found a Facebook photo and had the cooperator confirm that this was the man selling the cash.

"Facial recognition analysis matched photographs from Jack Farrel's Facebook site with a Texas Department of Motor Vehicles photo of Ryan Andrew Gustafson," according to the indictment.

Later searches revealed numerous Facebook accounts under both the Farrel and Gustafon names with the same face in all the photos, police say. Apparently, Gustafson logged into Facebook accounts without using Tor anonymizing software, creating a link that flashed red for investigators.

Also interesting, the site used remailers.

Like other Dark Net black markets, Community-X allegedly utilized the American postal service to ship its product. Community-X, however, took the operation a step further by recruiting "remailers," people whose job it was to receive and re-send a package in order to maintain the original sender's anonymity.

By October 2014, the criminal informant had become a designated remailer on Community-X but was "low level," meaning he only received mail from other remailers. That was enough, however, to arrest the remailers and make them into criminal informants on their own.

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Comments


[5 Points] Jay-__:

Community-X = willy.clock, in case people don't know.


[2 Points] None:

[removed]


[1 Points] throwaway:

Every Dark Net arrest in recent years has been accompanied by a triumphant reminder from police that the anonymous Internet ofers no foolproof protection from authorities.

But I heard from Comey that they're in danger of "going dark..."


[0 Points] noonehear:

The funny thing about the criminal informant was their username was "Mr.Mouse." Mr.Mouse turned out to be a rat.

Also I thought the Willy.clock bust was old news?


[-4 Points] None:

this maybe could explain the crazy dos this weekend .. the article says that the secret service was looking into evo big time .. maybe clue to why an exit scam was pulled off (maybe those fuckers knew something was about to go down) , or maybe the dos attacks this weekend was punishment since obvi some big wig lost a career case . Shit maybe even the subpoenas all in reguard to the evo exit scam .. Something is in the mix of all of this for sure