Joker’s Stash, one of the largest darknet marketplaces for selling identity data and stolen credit card information, retired last month after getting away with $ 1 billion worth of cool cryptocurrencies. Weeks ago, US and European officials seized some of the web portal’s servers connected to Joker’s stash site but were unable to completely shut down.
Darknet Market Jokers Stash closes the store
A number of reports suggest that the world’s largest darknet market (DNM) has quit post-operating in terms of stolen credit card and identity sales since 2014. Joker’s Stash stated in mid-January that the store would close in mid-February and it has followed suit with the plan.
Blockchain analytics firm Elliptic announced that the Joker’s Stash has grossed over $ 1 billion in cryptocurrencies during its tenure. Elliptic also revealed that the estimate was a conservative calculation based on the revenue Joker’s Stash has generated over the years, as well as any fees.
Joker’s Stash administrators left a letter to customers stating that the operators would be retiring.
On January 15, Joker’s stash administrators said the website would go dark on February 15, but Elliptic monitored the web portal and said the DNM went offline on February 3, 2021. Joker’s Stash had a happy run until 2020, when reports detailed that the DNM’s owner contracted the coronavirus and was hospitalized for seven days.
It was around this time that Joker’s Stash customers began to complain and have problems with card details and identity information. Both Krebs on Security and Gemini Advisory have released reports with a comprehensive analysis of the Joker’s stash operations.
Covid-19 and Global Law Enforcement are bringing the Joker’s supply to the brink
Since the administrator caught Covid-19 and the following weeks, Gemini Advisory has said the deal has seen a “sharp drop” in volume. The image below, created by Gemini, shows the decline in Joker’s Stash CNP and CP data towards the end of August 2020.
But Covid-19 wasn’t the only issue Joker’s stash operation addressed in 2020, as law enforcement officers from Europe and the US also stepped in. Interpol and the US Department of Justice (DoJ) seized a number of its servers on December 16, 2020. Similar to The Pirate Bay, however, Joker’s Stash has set up a new infrastructure on the Internet and has continued to operate until the announcement of retirement.
“Joker is going into well-deserved retirement. Joker’s Stash will be closed, ”says the suicide note. “When we opened years ago, nobody knew us. Today we are one of the largest card / dump marketplaces. “
The administrators promised to keep the “stash” of the business open for another 30 days and told people not to fall for bogus websites that might appear in the future. In capital letters, Joker’s Stash said it would “never open again”. Joker’s Stash made it clear that customers shouldn’t trust future scammers.
The treasure Joker’s Stash received from payment card records came from companies that have had major data breaches over the years. Gemini Advisory said Joker’s stash data came from high profile hacks that lost massive amounts of confidential customer data.
Merchants caught in the hacker’s crossfire include Whole Foods, Saks Fifth Avenue, Hilton Hotels, Hy-Vee Supermarkets, and Lord and Taylor.
What do you think of the Joker’s Stash administrators who are retiring after serving since 2014, bringing in $ 1 billion in digital assets? Let us know what you think on this matter in the comments section below.
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Bitcoin, Bitcoin (BTC), Coronavirus, COVID-19, credit card data, crypto, cryptocurrencies, darknet, darknet marketplace, darknet marketplaces, DOJ, INTERPOL, Joker’s Stash, retirement, servers seized, stolen credit cards, stolen identities
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