LA Times and Its Counterfeiting Thriller
February 5, 2019
I read “Glowing Reviews Tout Counterfeit Cash on the Dark Web.” The news story is more like a thriller, however. The Dark Web, fake money, online investigations, and a shoot out.
DarkCyber noted several interesting factoids in the write up:
- Reviews by customers of the Dark Web counterfeiting operation were important to the criminal’s business. The article refers to a “loyal fan base.”
- The agency taking the lead in the investigation was the US Secret Service. DarkCyber has heard that this entity is the most capable team of cyber sleuths in the US government.
- The “printing” was carried out on lasers and special paper.
- The bad actor had a long history of illegal activities. (This suggests that pattern analysis may be a useful adjunct to a traditional investigation.)
- The bad actor mailed counterfeit bills on several occasions from a traditional outdoor mail box across from a police station.
- After neutralizing the bad actor, agents discovered “about $300,000 in fake $100 bills, lined up and hanging to dry in neat rows.”
Investigators have not solved the problem of the location of the digital currency to which the bad actor had access. Also, computers seized in the raid were encrypted, and these, according to the write up, have not yet been decrypted by the USSS.
Stephen E Arnold, February 5, 2019
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