Deepmarket – TOR Scam Report (1)
Onion Link: http://deepmabnkhljxgyfnnmm6qzsif3g7mjgncw6moa2zn2vztlldjaa2tid.onion
Scam Report Date: 2024/02/11
Client Scam Report Breakdown
Original Report Summary:
A customer reported an alleged scam involving the Platinum Cards vendor from DeepMarket. The report reads: “I bought a credit card from Platinum store, and after making payments, the store doesn’t reply to my messages anymore. They got away with my money.” This complaint highlights a critical issue of communication breakdown post-transaction and alleges theft by the vendor after the payment was completed. Such scams undermine the credibility of illegal marketplaces and create challenges for users seeking to engage in transactions with supposed “trusted” sellers. In this report, we will delve into the incident, define the essential terms, and analyze the potential fraudulent behavior from both a technical and procedural standpoint.
Vendor and Transaction Context
“Platinum Cards” is a vendor in the Carding category on DeepMarket, dealing in prepaid, digital, and cloned cards. According to DeepMarket’s listing, the vendor has been active since April 2016, completing over 21,900 orders with the promise of customer protection. Based on this description, the vendor should offer high levels of buyer security through the multisig escrow system, which ensures payments are held in a third-party wallet until the buyer confirms receipt of the product. In this case, the customer made the payment, which is often facilitated through cryptocurrency on these platforms, but received no further communication from the seller and lost their funds, indicating a likely breach of the escrow mechanism. Terms like cloned cards refer to credit cards copied from legitimate sources and repurposed for unauthorized use, making this transaction inherently illegal.
Analysis and Terminology
The scam report points to several important elements of the deep web economy: buyer protection, escrow system, and vendor ratings. The complainant’s expectations of vendor protection were violated, despite Platinum Cards’ purported use of DeepMarket’s multisig escrow, which is designed to mitigate fraud. A multisig (multi-signature) escrow system typically requires multiple parties—both buyer and seller—to sign off on the transaction before the funds are released. In the event that the vendor, in this case, does not fulfill their side of the deal, the escrow system should, in theory, offer some recourse to the buyer. However, in cases where the vendor becomes unresponsive, the platform’s role in handling disputes becomes critical. If no dispute resolution occurs, the entire payment security structure is compromised. Additionally, vendor ratings are supposed to reflect transaction history and customer satisfaction; however, even highly rated sellers can engage in fraud, making these reviews potentially unreliable in certain cases.
