The British National Crime Agency did monitor and — working with police in Bulgaria — take down one of the sites that Monteiro had targeted, Crime Bay. On many of the sites examined by the team at Michigan State, considerable effort was expended trying to prove their legitimacy so customers would feel comfortable making a payment in Bitcoin, the digital currency. Hit men are not the sort of thing you pay for with a credit card.
This person had simply fired up their laptop and accessed a dangerous online space where criminals can remain anonymous as they operate outside the law. The latest episode of the Sky News Daily podcast looks at “murder-for-hire” websites, how dangerous they are, and what is being done about them. Wilson said these sites took attention from the real crime being committed on the dark net, like the drug markets and the sites selling the sensitive personal information of millions of Americans. “Why would you set up a dedicated site online when you know absolutely that law enforcement are going to be flooding that site trying to find you?” Wilson said. But there has still not been a killing commissioned on one of the dedicated hit-man-for-hire sites.
Is It Possible To Actually Hire A Hitman On The Dark Web?
Michelle Murphy, 58, was charged via criminal complaint in September 2023 and pleaded guilty in December 2023 to one count of murder-for-hire. But at the end of the day, it looks like the classic suitcase full of money is still the norm these days. If someone wants to get rid of someone else, they’ll most likely find a local hitman in the underworld and pay in cash, simple as that.
Unbeknown to its customers, the website is a scam by criminals — but the threat to the targets is real. While they have been known to exist in the past, the vast majority of these sites are either scams to steal bitcoin from someone who probably would be reluctant to report it or ongoing stings by law enforcement. However, by most journalistic accounts, the vast majority of hitman services on the dark-web are scam sites set up to steal thousands in bitcoins from people looking to have someone murdered.
Service Hub
Since its inception in 1992, the task force has been responsible for the seizure of approximately $600 million and more than 2,100 arrests. Zhou later tried to use the website to secure the murder of her romantic partner’s adult daughter. In February 2021, she also sent a text message to the daughter’s neighbor, seeking to hire that neighbor to kill the daughter.
Woman Who You’ve Never Heard Of Has Her Face Tattooed On People All Over The World
Ormsby’s research led her to a like-minded colleague half a world away in London. His website invites would-be killers to send him hit man audition tapes. Because the video is anonymously posted online, it can’t be verified.
The Full List Of Trusted Darknet Markets:
According to police records, soon after the Pences returned to Washington, a deputy with the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office performed a welfare check at the request of the Massachusetts DCF. “All were healthy and appeared happy … home is large and very clean … Michelle is researching how to obtain financial aid for kids as she has been paying out of pocket for their care,” the deputy wrote in his report. He admitted to the authorities at one point that his sexual behavior was a continuous challenge for his family. He had fought an addiction to pornography since he was a teenager, and the Massachusetts Department of Children & Families (DCF) had investigated him for looking at child porn and showing sexual images to his children. After a few years of dashed hopes, Michelle gave birth again in 2018. That September, taking advantage of Microsoft’s six-week paternity-leave policy, the Pences packed into a motor home and headed east.
🕵️♀️ Law Enforcement Stings
While it can be difficult to trace dark web hitmen, it is not impossible. Law enforcement agencies have specialized units that are trained to investigate criminal activity on the dark web. The hidden underbelly of the internet allows people to buy and sell drugs and weapons, watch illegal pornography and even hire hackers to target individuals or businesses.
Final Thoughts: Reality Vs Fiction
Christina told me that since Christopher’s arrest, Michelle has refused to allow her or Cisco to have any contact with their biological children. In April, however, the Corderos got a brief glimpse at Christopher’s sentencing. Their kids were seated with Michelle as if in support of the man who’d tried to have their biological parents killed.
Monteiro’s research suggested all such websites to be either harmless trolling or scams designed to rob people of their bitcoins. He could find no evidence of anybody ever being killed by a hitman hired online, nor of any hitman working online. According to the warrant, the site administrator told the agents about one order for which he’d been sent the target’s address in Bellevue, Washington, and had received a message from the buyer, which read, “Just kill her ASAP. She works in corporation in Bellevue but I don’t know where exactly.
Understanding The Dark Web Hitman Phenomenon
The music video he co-produced and appears in has more than two million views online. Brigham now has new people desperately wanting to see him, to find him — people with a badge who consider this talented artist a danger to society. Two months after the San Luis Obispo police got their tip from Chris Monteiro and “48 Hours,” cops finally have Laurie’s suspected tormentor in their sights. And just like in the Allwine case, the digital currency bitcoin is critical to proving a crime was committed.
- If you believed he was who he said he was — the owner of a site that arranged murders using a network of operatives all over the world — he would be pretty scary.
- “It’s great an international law enforcement operation took down these criminals, but when will they ever proactively investigate the thousands of names on the kill list?
- The hidden underbelly of the internet allows people to buy and sell drugs and weapons, watch illegal pornography and even hire hackers to target individuals or businesses.
- They were about to take a drive, maybe get some food, when Stern’s phone buzzed.
- While there are, indeed, many cases of murder for hire over the dark web, the truth is this is a very sensitive topic.
The more involved we became in the lives of all of these people around the world, the more it heightened my anxieties about their safety. It was impossible to keep an emotional distance, because the Kill List had connected us. And with new cases coming in all the time, the pace was relentless.
- In Utah, he quickly convinced the family’s new pastor, Jeffcott, that both Christina and Cisco loomed over their household like specters.
- It was long believed, on the evidence of those chat logs, that he or they resided in Eastern Europe, and Romania, which has a reputation for fostering a culture friendly to web scammers.
- The investigator managed to trace the website to Romania, where the FBI conducted raids on five addresses.
- Cybercrime is a genuine threat, affecting countless individuals and businesses worldwide.
Upon inspecting his phone, police discovered he’d been having affairs and had sent messages and money to the Dark Web site in exchange for murder. Hours later, Christopher messaged the administrators that he wanted the murder order canceled. In late July 2021, Christopher began transferring bitcoin into an escrow account and, eventually, ordered the hit. He entered Christina and Cisco’s address and attached photos of the couple he had taken from their biological daughter’s baby book. The ad hoc nature of the arrangement drew the attention of the child-welfare system.
From guns and illicit drugs to hacker services and even murder for hire services. Dark web hitmen typically operate through online marketplaces or forums where they advertise their services. These marketplaces and forums are often hidden behind multiple layers of encryption, making it difficult for law enforcement to track down the individuals responsible.
