besa mafia
December 28, 2018 9:24 AM Subscribe
The unbelievable tale of a fake hitman, a kill list, a darknet vigilante... and a murder. Hitman-for-hire darknet sites are all scams. But some people turn up dead nonetheless.
There are no hitmen in this story. There are no sharply dressed assassins screwing silencers on to their Glocks, no operatives assigned, nor capos directing them.
There is a website, though – a succession of websites, to be precise – where all those things are made out to be true. Some people fall for it. Looking for a hitman, they download Tor, a browser that uses encryption and a complex relaying system to ensure anonymity, and allows them to access the dark web, where the website exists. Under false names, the website’s users complete a form to request a murder. They throw hundreds of bitcoins into the website’s digital purse.
There are no hitmen in this story. There are no sharply dressed assassins screwing silencers on to their Glocks, no operatives assigned, nor capos directing them.
There is a website, though – a succession of websites, to be precise – where all those things are made out to be true. Some people fall for it. Looking for a hitman, they download Tor, a browser that uses encryption and a complex relaying system to ensure anonymity, and allows them to access the dark web, where the website exists. Under false names, the website’s users complete a form to request a murder. They throw hundreds of bitcoins into the website’s digital purse.
This is a fascinating article. I first heard about Amy Allwine on the (unnecessarily dramatic) true crime podcast Casefile, but at the time, the writers of the podcast didn't have that much information about the scam.
The lack of action from law enforcement is really appalling. It's not shocking though. They are shit at handling internet crime unless it falls into a specific category, like ... threats to law enforcement. There are still a lot of people in law enforcement who don't think internet crime is "real" until it targets something they care about.
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 9:58 AM on December 28, 2018 [15 favorites]
The lack of action from law enforcement is really appalling. It's not shocking though. They are shit at handling internet crime unless it falls into a specific category, like ... threats to law enforcement. There are still a lot of people in law enforcement who don't think internet crime is "real" until it targets something they care about.
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 9:58 AM on December 28, 2018 [15 favorites]
There are still a lot of people in law enforcement who don't think internet crime is "real" until it targets something they care about.
To be fair, this is an attitude that was encouraged by the tech community for far too long. There was a message put out that said the internet was something separate from reality, and a lot of people took their cues from that.
posted by NoxAeternum at 10:09 AM on December 28, 2018 [11 favorites]
To be fair, this is an attitude that was encouraged by the tech community for far too long. There was a message put out that said the internet was something separate from reality, and a lot of people took their cues from that.
posted by NoxAeternum at 10:09 AM on December 28, 2018 [11 favorites]
On another note, why would someone believe that you could fill out a form and hire a murderer, even on the dark web? Are their brains utterly rotted by movies? Are they just not that bright? "Oh, I will just request a murder on this widely advertised website, that is totally a thing that can happen".
Also, no, this is not some kind of cathartic public service; it's a system that encourages people to fantasize and scheme about murdering others.
posted by Frowner at 10:20 AM on December 28, 2018
Also, no, this is not some kind of cathartic public service; it's a system that encourages people to fantasize and scheme about murdering others.
posted by Frowner at 10:20 AM on December 28, 2018
If anything there would be an app.
posted by poffin boffin at 10:21 AM on December 28, 2018 [37 favorites]
posted by poffin boffin at 10:21 AM on December 28, 2018 [37 favorites]
Killr
posted by poffin boffin at 10:21 AM on December 28, 2018 [67 favorites]
posted by poffin boffin at 10:21 AM on December 28, 2018 [67 favorites]
On another note, why would someone believe that you could fill out a form and hire a murderer, even on the dark web? Are their brains utterly rotted by movies? Are they just not that bright? "Oh, I will just request a murder on this widely advertised website, that is totally a thing that can happen".
Did the form have a captcha? Because if there is a captcha the site has to be legit. It's the law.
posted by srboisvert at 10:38 AM on December 28, 2018 [18 favorites]
Did the form have a captcha? Because if there is a captcha the site has to be legit. It's the law.
posted by srboisvert at 10:38 AM on December 28, 2018 [18 favorites]
You'll notice that when he tried to go directly to the police he was ignored, then arrested, then ignored again. When he went to the media, those tips were relayed to the police and quickly acted on. So the lesson here is that if you stumble on a conspiracy, your first point of contact should probably be the media.
posted by Pyry at 10:41 AM on December 28, 2018 [37 favorites]
posted by Pyry at 10:41 AM on December 28, 2018 [37 favorites]
There are still a lot of people in law enforcement who don't think internet crime is "real" until it targets something they care about.
It's not just that, it's that so much of it crosses state and national borders that doing even basic investigations can take an intense amount of knowledge, effort, and coordination that most LE (especially small local ones) aren't equipped for it. Especially when so much of what goes on is effectively noise - small time fraud, teenagers making idle boasts, etc. It's sometimes hard to justify spending a work week tracking down simple information about an unknown person claiming they want to have someone killed when there's local, tangible, physical crimes that they don't have enough resources to investigate as it is.
Much of the real crime routes at their traffic through unfriendly countries because they know that will block or at least greatly impede efforts to investigate it.
posted by Candleman at 10:42 AM on December 28, 2018 [15 favorites]
It's not just that, it's that so much of it crosses state and national borders that doing even basic investigations can take an intense amount of knowledge, effort, and coordination that most LE (especially small local ones) aren't equipped for it. Especially when so much of what goes on is effectively noise - small time fraud, teenagers making idle boasts, etc. It's sometimes hard to justify spending a work week tracking down simple information about an unknown person claiming they want to have someone killed when there's local, tangible, physical crimes that they don't have enough resources to investigate as it is.
Much of the real crime routes at their traffic through unfriendly countries because they know that will block or at least greatly impede efforts to investigate it.
posted by Candleman at 10:42 AM on December 28, 2018 [15 favorites]
If anything there would be an app.
Oh, come on, every week, there’s some new tech bro going on and on about his killer app!
posted by GenjiandProust at 10:43 AM on December 28, 2018 [22 favorites]
Oh, come on, every week, there’s some new tech bro going on and on about his killer app!
posted by GenjiandProust at 10:43 AM on December 28, 2018 [22 favorites]
Frequently Bought Together: Murder, Fraud Larceny. People who have requested a Murder are also interested in Fraud, Larceny, Theft and Assault. Sponsored Products related to Murder: Fraud, Larceny, Getting Things Done, Assault, Post-it notes (pink).
Same day ($4.99)
2 day service (CrimePrime - free)
3-7 day service (CrimePrime - free with a $5 CrimePrimePantry Credit)
posted by srboisvert at 10:47 AM on December 28, 2018 [30 favorites]
Same day ($4.99)
2 day service (CrimePrime - free)
3-7 day service (CrimePrime - free with a $5 CrimePrimePantry Credit)
posted by srboisvert at 10:47 AM on December 28, 2018 [30 favorites]
Notification from Mrdrr: You have a new suggested target to review.
posted by paper chromatographologist at 10:53 AM on December 28, 2018 [26 favorites]
posted by paper chromatographologist at 10:53 AM on December 28, 2018 [26 favorites]
On another note, why would someone believe that you could fill out a form and hire a murderer, even on the dark web?
As opposed to buying vacuum packed hard drugs and having them sent to your house?
Besides which, people have been trying (and occasionally succeeding) to arrange violence on Craigslist for years. This at least has a layer of anonymity.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 10:56 AM on December 28, 2018 [5 favorites]
As opposed to buying vacuum packed hard drugs and having them sent to your house?
Besides which, people have been trying (and occasionally succeeding) to arrange violence on Craigslist for years. This at least has a layer of anonymity.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 10:56 AM on December 28, 2018 [5 favorites]
Yeah, let's not bash the cops here too much. In February, the FBI discovered that someone was trying to kill her, and they told her. She then lived in fear and took safety measures until November, when she was killed. As Candleman says, you can't assume every weird little thing is a husband plotting to kill his wife with the current manpower.
posted by Melismata at 11:04 AM on December 28, 2018 [7 favorites]
posted by Melismata at 11:04 AM on December 28, 2018 [7 favorites]
Of course he got no action from the police in London--the article says they routed it to the Falcon section, which is in charge of supernatural crime, not internet crime. Simple bureaucratic mixup.
posted by Gilgamesh's Chauffeur at 11:06 AM on December 28, 2018 [8 favorites]
posted by Gilgamesh's Chauffeur at 11:06 AM on December 28, 2018 [8 favorites]
1 duz n0 s!mplE wok N2 Mrdrr
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 11:16 AM on December 28, 2018 [5 favorites]
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 11:16 AM on December 28, 2018 [5 favorites]
Killr
Is it bad that the first idea that popped into my head as a brand for this kind of service was "Red Rum"?
posted by Aleyn at 11:39 AM on December 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
Is it bad that the first idea that popped into my head as a brand for this kind of service was "Red Rum"?
posted by Aleyn at 11:39 AM on December 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
Yeah, let's not bash the cops here too much. In February, the FBI discovered that someone was trying to kill her, and they told her. She then lived in fear and took safety measures until November, when she was killed. As Candleman says, you can't assume every weird little thing is a husband plotting to kill his wife with the current manpower.
I can't tell if this is sarcasm or not. "She got a whole extra 9 months of life thanks to the police!"
posted by axiom at 12:01 PM on December 28, 2018 [18 favorites]
I can't tell if this is sarcasm or not. "She got a whole extra 9 months of life thanks to the police!"
posted by axiom at 12:01 PM on December 28, 2018 [18 favorites]
how to get a mother-of-one murdered.Objectively, publishing this phrase isn't really comparable to hiring an assassin. I sincerely believe this.
posted by eotvos at 12:17 PM on December 28, 2018
Notification from Mrdrr: You have a new suggested target to review.
Well, that went all Charlie Brooker very quickly...
posted by bigZLiLk at 12:49 PM on December 28, 2018 [2 favorites]
Well, that went all Charlie Brooker very quickly...
posted by bigZLiLk at 12:49 PM on December 28, 2018 [2 favorites]
I think that even if "Yura" were being sincere in his claim that he is scamming would-murderers to prevent murders, I don't think the claim holds up. In fact, I think the opposite is probably true.
I know that there is research showing that suicide rates increase with greater access to easy methods (e.g., guns). My guess would be that murders work much the same way. Planning and executing a murder is difficult, signing up for a website and sending bitcoin is easy. I suspect that murder appearing more accessible encourages more people to pursue it. Obviously a scammer won't pull off an actual hit, but it's not unreasonable that some percentage of the people paying might then be more willing to pursue other methods after months of thinking about it and being led on by the scammer. What might otherwise have been a fantasy has now been made more concrete and perhaps crystallized into an actual, realizable goal.
posted by Sangermaine at 12:57 PM on December 28, 2018 [24 favorites]
I know that there is research showing that suicide rates increase with greater access to easy methods (e.g., guns). My guess would be that murders work much the same way. Planning and executing a murder is difficult, signing up for a website and sending bitcoin is easy. I suspect that murder appearing more accessible encourages more people to pursue it. Obviously a scammer won't pull off an actual hit, but it's not unreasonable that some percentage of the people paying might then be more willing to pursue other methods after months of thinking about it and being led on by the scammer. What might otherwise have been a fantasy has now been made more concrete and perhaps crystallized into an actual, realizable goal.
posted by Sangermaine at 12:57 PM on December 28, 2018 [24 favorites]
If you’ve got an open market to solicit bids for hit jobs, you can only call it eSlay.
posted by dr_dank at 1:22 PM on December 28, 2018 [13 favorites]
posted by dr_dank at 1:22 PM on December 28, 2018 [13 favorites]
If you want someone murdered with a vintage firearm, you can go to Hitsy.
posted by Enemy of Joy at 1:29 PM on December 28, 2018 [21 favorites]
posted by Enemy of Joy at 1:29 PM on December 28, 2018 [21 favorites]
"Falcon Team"? I am reminded of this Get Your War On strip.
posted by doctornemo at 1:32 PM on December 28, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by doctornemo at 1:32 PM on December 28, 2018 [4 favorites]
Hit-Advisor
Welcome to the all‑new Hit-Advisor.com, unleash the full potential of every Hit.
With 1702 reviews and opinions covering the world's largest selection of assassins, check out the ratings for accuracy and punctuality of our best operators.
The top rated hitmen in your city have an accuracy score of: 4/5 *
[The Hit-Advisor Companies take no responsibility and assume no liability for any death or dismemberment by you or any appointed third party (in the case of any and all legal action more generally), or for any loss or damage thereto.]
* not counting collateral overkill.
posted by Lanark at 1:51 PM on December 28, 2018 [8 favorites]
Welcome to the all‑new Hit-Advisor.com, unleash the full potential of every Hit.
With 1702 reviews and opinions covering the world's largest selection of assassins, check out the ratings for accuracy and punctuality of our best operators.
The top rated hitmen in your city have an accuracy score of: 4/5 *
[The Hit-Advisor Companies take no responsibility and assume no liability for any death or dismemberment by you or any appointed third party (in the case of any and all legal action more generally), or for any loss or damage thereto.]
* not counting collateral overkill.
posted by Lanark at 1:51 PM on December 28, 2018 [8 favorites]
i agree w the author- the notion that this guy is doing good by scamming wannabe hirers of hitmen is far-fetched and self-serving at best, and recklessly negligent at worst. you cant possibly know what scamming someone like that will lead them to do, and it is reasonably foreseeable that anything you do to deceive them (short of sending them directly to law enforcement, assuming law enforcement is competent and has told you they will act on it) will end up doing more harm than good. and that's even if you assume the best of intentions, which obviously scamming them for bitcoin is not.
posted by wibari at 2:18 PM on December 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by wibari at 2:18 PM on December 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
Congratulations! You've earned five stars on each of your first three requests from Snuft, which means you've earned the Good Neighbor award and you're now entitled to membership in the Gold Snuft Tier! For as little as 0.003 bct a month you can qualify for discounts on any further orders placed through Snuft as well as priority scheduling and service responses. Mention us on Twitter and like us on Facebook for additional advantages and discounts... And remember to complete your member surveys to qualify for a chance to win up to $300 in Snuft Gift Certificates!
posted by at by at 3:48 PM on December 28, 2018 [5 favorites]
posted by at by at 3:48 PM on December 28, 2018 [5 favorites]
Sounds like an enterprising semi-retired wetwork operative could make a ... killing in this market by actually doing the jobs and then getting the client to post feedback. Hmm..
posted by some loser at 3:48 PM on December 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by some loser at 3:48 PM on December 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
Real assassins don't advertise on the Dark Web, they slip their advertisements into the middle of those long, boring lists of possible side effects for new medications on late night cable TV. May cause rigor mortis. Crushing of enemies, driven before you, and lamentations have been reported. Ask your doctor if Endlifoline is right for you!
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 4:19 PM on December 28, 2018 [8 favorites]
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 4:19 PM on December 28, 2018 [8 favorites]
Seriously, a knee capping with each new banner?
posted by clavdivs at 6:15 PM on December 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by clavdivs at 6:15 PM on December 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
This is all a PR campaign for John Wick 3.
posted by misterpatrick at 6:33 PM on December 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by misterpatrick at 6:33 PM on December 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
Real assassins don't freelance, they're salaried employees.
posted by Kadin2048 at 6:39 PM on December 28, 2018 [9 favorites]
posted by Kadin2048 at 6:39 PM on December 28, 2018 [9 favorites]
Man, Yura’s opportunistic switch to pretending to be the person who hacked his own site for that one would-be murder solicitor is...something. The notion of having a professional relationship with someone like that is pretty surreal to contemplate.
Also, was his successive deployment of sites vulnerable to exactly the same user data compromise a matter of incompetence or actually a reasonable cost-benefit tradeoff given that fixing that bug might bring him no tangible benefit? I guess I’m leaning towards the latter given that it hasn’t seemed to result in any harm to his operation, but it also seems like it’s been an ongoing exposure risk at the same time. Not that I’m empathizing with him, but I found myself thinking at the mention of the third message enumeration attack that he was a doofus, and then reconsidering whether it really mattered for him that much at all.
posted by invitapriore at 8:44 PM on December 28, 2018
Also, was his successive deployment of sites vulnerable to exactly the same user data compromise a matter of incompetence or actually a reasonable cost-benefit tradeoff given that fixing that bug might bring him no tangible benefit? I guess I’m leaning towards the latter given that it hasn’t seemed to result in any harm to his operation, but it also seems like it’s been an ongoing exposure risk at the same time. Not that I’m empathizing with him, but I found myself thinking at the mention of the third message enumeration attack that he was a doofus, and then reconsidering whether it really mattered for him that much at all.
posted by invitapriore at 8:44 PM on December 28, 2018
I thought the same thing, invitapriore; on one hand, not bothering to fix the bug is poor operational security, but on the other hand, his identity apparently still hasn't been compromised; at least, not by anyone who cares about stopping him.
posted by jordemort at 9:12 PM on December 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by jordemort at 9:12 PM on December 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
I got the distinct impression that Yura was not aware of the security flaw, hence would not have thought to fix it. Either he rolled his own solution and did an amateurish job of it, or he used someone else's software and he's just turning the crank. More likely the former.
posted by axiom at 9:27 PM on December 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by axiom at 9:27 PM on December 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
This is a perfect time to read Neil Gaiman's short story, "We can get them for you wholesale", where the protagonist does what any normal person would do and look in the classifieds. (it was a different time!)
https://mrdylitcirclestories.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/we-can-get-them-for-you-wholesale.pdf
posted by mulligan at 9:43 PM on December 28, 2018 [4 favorites]
https://mrdylitcirclestories.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/we-can-get-them-for-you-wholesale.pdf
posted by mulligan at 9:43 PM on December 28, 2018 [4 favorites]
Hey will you murder someone for me
I can't pay but it would be a very important target, you would get lots of exposure
C'mon as a favor
C'mon it would only take you a few seconds to pull a trigger how can you charge ťhat much just to move your finger a couple inches
Fucking assassins too cheap for a great opportunity like this
posted by The otter lady at 9:55 PM on December 28, 2018 [18 favorites]
I can't pay but it would be a very important target, you would get lots of exposure
C'mon as a favor
C'mon it would only take you a few seconds to pull a trigger how can you charge ťhat much just to move your finger a couple inches
Fucking assassins too cheap for a great opportunity like this
posted by The otter lady at 9:55 PM on December 28, 2018 [18 favorites]
I’m surprised there aren’t more real sites where you can go to get people to do your online harassment for you.
Oh wait, that’s 4chan. Never mind.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 10:54 PM on December 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
Oh wait, that’s 4chan. Never mind.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 10:54 PM on December 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
Twitter callouts also come to mind.
posted by dragoon at 9:59 AM on December 29, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by dragoon at 9:59 AM on December 29, 2018 [2 favorites]
There are still a lot of people in law enforcement who don't think internet crime is "real" until it targets something they care about.
Fixed it for you.
posted by bile and syntax at 10:07 AM on December 29, 2018 [3 favorites]
Fixed it for you.
posted by bile and syntax at 10:07 AM on December 29, 2018 [3 favorites]
Assassins are really just serial killers who take commissions
posted by The otter lady at 1:05 PM on December 29, 2018
posted by The otter lady at 1:05 PM on December 29, 2018
This is a fascinating article. I first heard about Amy Allwine on the (unnecessarily dramatic) true crime podcast Casefile, but at the time, the writers of the podcast didn't have that much information about the scam.
My wife is involved in dog training in the Twin Cities area. So she got to meet Amy Allwine twice before she was killed. The murder was really devastating to that community.
posted by jonp72 at 6:14 PM on December 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
My wife is involved in dog training in the Twin Cities area. So she got to meet Amy Allwine twice before she was killed. The murder was really devastating to that community.
posted by jonp72 at 6:14 PM on December 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
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posted by Braeburn at 9:29 AM on December 28, 2018