Dark Web Investigations: One-Stop Shop Case 01
- Nominis Research Team
- Mar 24
- 3 min read
Updated: 3 days ago
The dark web has long been a sanctuary for illicit activities around the world, with illegitimate businesses operating in secrecy and using cryptocurrencies to facilitate anonymous and often untraceable transactions.
In a recent investigation, we uncovered a black market operation, which provides a range of illegal services, including drug sales, hacking services, money laundering and counterfeit money production.
One-Stop Shop Case 01
The Nominis research team traced the transactions linked to OSSC 01, identifying their Bitcoin (bc1q**********uvmd) and Tron (TVEj**********A8qR) wallet addresses. This dual-wallet system allows the owners of OSSC 01 to obfuscate , as different cryptocurrencies offer varying levels of traceability and network fees. While Bitcoin remains to be the most common cryptocurrency used on the dark web, Tron has gained traction and become more prevalent given its faster and has lower transaction costs.
Assessing transactions on the blockchain originating from these wallets demonstrates numerous payments from “unknown” sources, likely customers engaging in the purchase of their illegal products and services. These wallets show frequent transfers to numerous anonymous wallets, obscuring the movement of funds and making it highly difficult for authorities to follow their trail.
By utilising the Nominis Vue Wallet Screening platform, we are able to view the critical risk scores assigned to OSSC 01’s wallets, their entire transaction history, and in addition, the lifespan of each wallet. OSSC 01’s Bitcoin wallet is used by their clients more frequently, receiving over $38k.
By contrast, the TRON wallet, while also assigned the risk score of critical, sees fewer transactions, with transactions totalling $4k. However, Nominis Vue can inform the low compliance levels of wallets interacting with this wallet.
The Importance of Crypto Compliance
The widespread use of cryptocurrency in illicit activities highlight the major importance of strong compliance measures in the crypto industry. Many regulated crypto exchanges and financial institutions implement compliance frameworks, fulfilling checks known as Know Your Customer (KYC) and Know Your Transaction (KYT) that ensure inspection and validation of the legitimacy of the wallet an organization is accepting a transaction from.
Without robust compliance frameworks, legitimate businesses risk unknowingly processing illicit funds, exposing them to legal and reputational risks. By utilising advanced threat intelligence, companies can proactively block transactions from suspicious wallets, ensuring compliance with regulatory authorities and critically, mitigating potential financial crime risks.
Final Thoughts
Our ongoing investigation into this dark web marketplace underscores the persistent challenges in combating illegal activities, facilitated by cryptocurrency. The use of both Bitcoin and Tron wallets illustrates how malicious actors adapt to evade detection, requiring continuous improvements in crypto compliance efforts.
As cryptocurrency adoption continues to grow, regulatory bodies and blockchain analytics firms must work together to identify and shut down illicit operations, before they can infiltrate the mainstream financial system. Vigilance, transparency and collaboration will be key in the fight against dark web criminal enterprises.
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