Common Darknet Market Scams

The scams are a short list, and the list is stable, because the mechanism of the scam is the relationship between strangers, and the relationship does not change. This is the list, in the order of frequency, how each one works, and the check that stops it.

The phishing clone

The clone is the most common, and it is the one that is the cheapest to pull. A copy of the market, at an address that is close to the real one, that takes the password and is gone. The check is the address, read from the end backwards, before the password goes in. The clone does not need to be perfect. It needs to be right enough that the check is skipped, and the check is the thing that is skipped.

The fake vendor

The fake vendor is the listing that is new, with no history, at a price that is too good, in a category that is the most imitated. The check is the vendor, the review count, the recency, the response to the negative reviews. The fake vendor is the one that has no history, and the history is the part that is the check, and the price is the part that is the bait.

The shipping scam

The shipping scam is the order that is shipped, and the tracking that does not move, and the delivery that does not arrive, and the dispute that is opened after the timer. The check is the timer, the deadline that is the difference between a dispute and a complaint. The shipping scam is the one that is the hardest to win, because the evidence is the tracking, and the tracking is the part that is out of the buyer's control, and the timer is the part that is in it.

The support scam

The support scam is the message that claims to be the market, that announces a problem, and that asks for a password or a coin, in the open, in a channel that is not the market. The check is the channel, the message that comes from outside the market is the message that is the scam, and the market does not ask for the password in a message, and the market does not ask for a coin to a different address.

The security basics covers the stack, and the phishing guide covers the first one in depth.