AlphaBay market, one of the largest Dark Web markets for illegal inventory like drugs and guns has been down since Tuesday night.
The site is often down due to maintenance reasons but this time around things may be different s its users suspect the owners pulled out an exit scheme. Admins haven’t commented on the event yet, which has caused people to speculate about the reasons of the incident.
Massive Bitcoin Transaction Observed – $3.7 Million Withdrawn from User Accounts
Apparently, some AlphaBay users have come across a massive Bitcoin transaction amounting to more than $3.7 million which most probably originated from the market. Exactly 1,479.03904709 have been withdrawn from accounts. Reddit and Twitter users also believe that AlphaBay’s admins have shut down the market and have stolen user funds.
Not surprisingly, exit schemes are not unusual for Dark Web markets. Many other sites have suddenly become offline and users Bitcoins have been withdrawn, with no signs of the cryptocurrency being returned to the owners.
AlphaBay made the headlines earlier this year when a researcher disclosed a security vulnerability in the site. When Ciper00007 first contacted AlphaBay to let them know about his findings, they ignored him. That is why he went on to demonstrate what he knew to DarkNetMarkets mods on Reddit. He claimed that he had created a bot to automate the collection of messages.
AlphaBay later explained that the messages were not older than 30 days. Messages older than 30 days are automatically deleted. They also confirmed that the researcher was able to obtain a list of user IDs and usernames. No passwords or Bitcoin addresses were compromised.
Milena Dimitrova
An inspired writer and content manager who has been with SensorsTechForum since the project started. A professional with 10+ years of experience in creating engaging content. Focused on user privacy and malware development, she strongly believes in a world where cybersecurity plays a central role. If common sense makes no sense, she will be there to take notes. Those notes may later turn into articles! Follow Milena @Milenyim
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