Conor Freeman (x.com/conorfrmn) stole money online. Lot’s of it. In this episode we talk with him, and hear how he did it, why he did, and what he spent it on.
Conor’s website: https://conorfreeman.ie
Conor’s X: https://x.com/conorfrmn
Support for this show comes from ThreatLocker®. ThreatLocker® is a Zero Trust Endpoint Protection Platform that strengthens your infrastructure from the ground up. With ThreatLocker® Allowlisting and Ringfencing™, you gain a more secure approach to blocking exploits of known and unknown vulnerabilities. ThreatLocker® provides Zero Trust control at the kernel level that enables you to allow everything you need and block everything else, including ransomware! Learn more at www.threatlocker.com.
Support for this show comes from Drata. Drata is the trust management platform that uses AI-driven automation to modernize governance, risk, and compliance, helping thousands of businesses stay audit-ready and scale securely. Learn more at drata.com/darknetdiaries.
Support for this show comes from ZipRecruiter. ZipRecruiter has solved the hiring problem. Employers prefer it the most for so many reasons. Let’s start by telling you about their matching technology. They work hard to find the best candidates for your needs, and will instantly show you results once you post a job listing. ZipRecruiter will speed up your hiring process. See it for yourself at www.ziprecruiter.com/DARKNET.
In this episode, Geoff White (https://x.com/geoffwhite247) tells us what happened to Axie Infinity and Tornado cash. It’s a digital heist of epic proportions that changes everything.
This story comes from part of Geoff’s book “Rinsed” which goes into the world of money laundering. Get yours here https://amzn.to/3VJs7pb.
In this episode, Joseph Cox (https://x.com/josephfcox) tells us the story of anom. A secure phone made by criminals, for criminals.
This story comes from part of Joseph’s book “Dark Wire” which you should definitely read. Get yours here https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/joseph-cox/dark-wire/9781541702691.
Jim Browning has dedicated himself to combatting scammers, taking a proactive stance by infiltrating their computer systems. Through his efforts, he not only disrupts these fraudulent operations but also shares his findings publicly on YouTube, shedding light on the intricacies of scam networks. His work uncovers a myriad of intriguing insights into the digital underworld, which he articulately discusses, offering viewers a behind-the-scenes look at his methods for fighting back against scammers.
Jim’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/JimBrowning
Sponsors
Support for this episode comes from NetSuite. NetSuite gives you visibility and control of your financials, planning, budgeting, and of course - inventory - so you can manage risk, get reliable forecasts, and improve margins. NetSuite helps you identify rising costs, automate your manual business processes, and see where to save money. KNOW your numbers. KNOW your business. And get to KNOW how NetSuite can be the source of truth for your entire company. Visit www.netsuite.com/darknet to learn more.
This episode is sponsored by Intruder. Growing attack surfaces, dynamic cloud environments, and the constant stream of new vulnerabilities stressing you out? Intruder is here to help you cut through the chaos of vulnerability management with ease. Join the thousands of companies who are using Intruder to find and fix what matters most. Sign up to Intruder today and get 20% off your first 3 months. Visit intruder.io/darknet.
This show is sponsored by Shopify. Shopify is the best place to go to start or grow your online retail business. And running a growing business means getting the insights you need wherever you are. With Shopify’s single dashboard, you can manage orders, shipping, and payments from anywhere. Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period at https://shopify.com/darknet.
CLAIM=a6e199f5f9fd5954e532117c829c8f0a8f0f1282=CLAIM
Axact sells fake diplomas and degrees. What could go wrong with this business plan?
Sponsors
Support for this episode comes from NetSuite. NetSuite gives you visibility and control of your financials, planning, budgeting, and of course - inventory - so you can manage risk, get reliable forecasts, and improve margins. NetSuite helps you identify rising costs, automate your manual business processes, and see where to save money. KNOW your numbers. KNOW your business. And get to KNOW how NetSuite can be the source of truth for your entire company. Visit www.netsuite.com/darknet to learn more.
Support for this show comes from ThreatLocker®. ThreatLocker® is a Zero Trust Endpoint Protection Platform that strengthens your infrastructure from the ground up. With ThreatLocker® Allowlisting and Ringfencing™, you gain a more secure approach to blocking exploits of known and unknown vulnerabilities. ThreatLocker® provides Zero Trust control at the kernel level that enables you to allow everything you need and block everything else, including ransomware! Learn more at www.threatlocker.com.
This show is sponsored by Shopify. Shopify is the best place to go to start or grow your online retail business. And running a growing business means getting the insights you need wherever you are. With Shopify’s single dashboard, you can manage orders, shipping, and payments from anywhere. Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period at https://shopify.com/darknet.
The #1 crime which results in the biggest financial loss is BEC fraud. The #2 crime is pig butchering. Ronnie Tokazowski https://twitter.com/iHeartMalware walks us through this wild world.
Sponsors
Support for this episode comes from NetSuite. NetSuite gives you visibility and control of your financials, planning, budgeting, and of course - inventory - so you can manage risk, get reliable forecasts, and improve margins. NetSuite helps you identify rising costs, automate your manual business processes, and see where to save money. KNOW your numbers. KNOW your business. And get to KNOW how NetSuite can be the source of truth for your entire company. Visit www.netsuite.com/darknet to learn more.
Support for this show comes from Drata. Drata streamlines your SOC 2, ISO 27001, PCI DSS, HIPAA, GDPR & many other compliance frameworks, and provides 24-hour continuous control monitoring so you focus on scaling securely. Listeners of Darknet Diaries can get 10% off Drata and waived implementation fees at drata.com/darknetdiaries.
This show is sponsored by Shopify. Shopify is the best place to go to start or grow your online retail business. And running a growing business means getting the insights you need wherever you are. With Shopify’s single dashboard, you can manage orders, shipping, and payments from anywhere. Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period at https://shopify.com/darknet.
Madison's nude photos were posted online. Her twin sister Christine came to help. This begins a bizarre and uneasy story.
Sam Bent, a.k.a. DoingFedTime, brings us a story of what it was like being a darknet market vendor.
Learn more about Sam at https://www.doingfedtime.com/.
Sponsors
Support for this show comes from Akamai Connected Cloud (formerly Linode). Akamai Connected Cloud supplies you with virtual servers. Visit linode.com/darknet and get a special offer.
Support for this show comes from Thinkst Canary. Their canaries attract malicious actors in your network and then send you an alert if someone tries to access them. Great early warning system for knowing when someone is snooping around where they shouldn’t be. Check them out at https://canary.tools.
Brett Johnson, AKA Gollumfun (twitter.com/GOllumfun) was involved with the websites Counterfeit Library and Shadow Crew. He tells his story of what happened there and some of the crimes he committed.
In part 2, his past catches up to him.
Listen to more of Brett on his own show. https://www.thebrettjohnsonshow.com/.
Investing in the stock market can be very profitable. Especially if you can see into the future. This is a story of how a group of traders and hackers got together to figure out a way to see into the future and make a lot of money from that.
Sponsors
Support for this show comes from Thinkst Canary. Their canaries attract malicious actors in your network and then send you an alert if someone tries to access them. Great early warning system for knowing when someone is snooping around where they shouldn’t be. Check them out at https://canary.tools.
Support for this show comes from Juniper Networks. Juniper Networks is dedicated to simplifying network operations and driving superior experiences for end users. Visit juniper.net/darknet to learn more about how Juniper’s Zero Trust Data Center provides uncompromising visibility across all your data center environments. Visit juniper.net/darknet to learn more.
Jim Lawler, aka “Mad Dog”, was a CIA case officer for 25 years. In this episode we hear some of the stories he has and things he did while working in the CIA.
Jim has two books out. Affiliate links below.
Living Lies: A Novel of the Iranian Nuclear Weapons Program https://amzn.to/3s0Ppca
In the Twinkling of an Eye: A Novel of Biological Terror and Espionage https://amzn.to/3y7B4OL
Sponsors
Support for this show comes from Linode. Linode supplies you with virtual servers. Visit linode.com/darknet and get a special offer.
Support for this show comes from Juniper Networks. Juniper Networks is dedicated to simplifying network operations and driving superior experiences for end users. Visit juniper.net/darknet to learn more about how Juniper’s Zero Trust Data Center provides uncompromising visibility across all your data center environments. Visit juniper.net/darknet to learn more.
This episode we talk with a guy named “Drew” who gives us a rare peek into what some of the young hackers are up to today. From listening to Drew, we can see that times are changing for the motive behind hacking. In the ’90s and ’00s it was done for fun and curiosity. In the ’10s Anonymous showed us what Hacktivism is. And now, in the ’20s, the young hackers seem to be profit driven.
Sponsors
Support for this show comes from Linode. Linode supplies you with virtual servers. Visit linode.com/darknet and get a special offer.
Support for this show comes from Juniper Networks. Juniper Networks is dedicated to simplifying network operations and driving superior experiences for end users. Visit juniper.net/darknet to learn more about how Juniper Secure Edge can help you keep your remote workforce seamlessly secure wherever they are.
Alethe is a social engineer. Professionally she tries to trick people to give her passwords and access that she shouldn’t have. But her journey to this point is interesting and in this episode she tells us how she became a social engineer.
Follow Alethe on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AletheDenis
Sponsors
Support for this show comes from Skiff. Skiff is a collaboration platform built for privacy from the ground up. Every document, note, and idea you write is end-to-end encrypted and completely private. Only you and your trusted collaborators can see what you’ve created. Try it out at https://www.skiff.org/darknet.
Support for this show comes from Blinkist. They offer thousands of condensed non-fiction books, so you can get through books in about 15 minutes. Check out Blinkist.com/DARKNET to start your 7 day free trial and get 25% off when you sign up.
Joseph Cox (https://twitter.com/josephfcox), Senior Staff Writer at Motherboard (https://www.vice.com/en/topic/motherboard), joins us to talk about the world of encrypted phones.
Books
Affiliate links to books:
The Smart Girl’s Guide to Privacy: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1593276486/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1593276486&linkCode=as2&tag=tunn01-20&linkId=0a8ee2ca846534f77626757288d77e00
Extreme Privacy:https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0898YGR58/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B0898YGR58&linkCode=as2&tag=tunn01-20&linkId=575c5ed0326484f0b612f000621b407f
Sponsors
Support for this show comes from IT Pro TV. Get 65 hours of free training by visiting ITPro.tv/darknet. And use promo code DARKNET.
Support for this show comes from Ping Identity, champions of identity for the global enterprise. Give your users a loveable login solution. Visit www.pingidentity.com/.
View all active sponsors.
Arya Ebrahami has had quite a personal relationship with darknet marketplaces. In this episode you’ll hear about his adventures on tor. Arya’s current project is https://lofi-defi.com.
Sponsors
Support for this show comes from Linode. Linode supplies you with virtual servers. Visit linode.com/darknet and get a special offer.
Support for this show comes from Blinkist. They offer thousands of condensed non-fiction books, so you can get through books in about 15 minutes. Check out Blinkist.com/DARKNET to start your 7 day free trial and get 25% off when you sign up.
View all active sponsors.
Sources
https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/27-arrested-in-prince-william-county-narcotics-investigation/58441/
https://patch.com/virginia/manassas/undercover-narcotics-operation-nets-27-arrrests-xanax-distribution-ring
Frank Bourassa had an idea. He was going to make money. Literally. Listen to the story of a master counterfeiter.
In 2014 the Puerto Rico Lottery was mysteriously losing money. Listen to this never before told story about what happened and who did it.
Sponsors
Support for this show comes from IT Pro TV. Get 65 hours of free training by visiting ITPro.tv/darknet. And use promo code DARKNET.
Support for this show comes from Linode. Linode supplies you with virtual servers. Visit linode.com/darknet and get a special offer.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_Rico_Lottery
https://www.justice.gov/usao-pr/pr/10-individuals-indicted-drug-trafficking-and-money-laundering
https://www.dea.gov/press-releases/2014/07/22/caribbean-corridor-strike-force-arrests-10-individuals-indicted-drug
https://casetext.com/case/united-states-v-delfin-robles-alvarez-7
The NSO Group creates a spyware called Pegasus which gives someone access to the data on a mobile phone. They sell this spyware to government agencies around the world. How is it used and what kind of company is the NSO Group?
Thanks to John Scott-Railton and Citizen Lab for investigating this and sharing their research.
Sponsors
Support for this show comes from Detectify. Try their web vulnerability scanner free. Go to https://detectify.com/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=DARKNET
Support for this show comes from Ping Identity, champions of identity for the global enterprise. Give your users a loveable login solution. Visit www.pingidentity.com/.
Support for this show comes from Blinkist. They offer thousands of condensed non-fiction books, so you can get through books in about 15 minutes. Check out Blinkist.com/DARKNET to start your 7 day free trial and get 25% off when you sign up.
For a full list of sources used in this episode and complete transcripts visit https://darknetdiaries.com.
What if someone wanted to own your Instagram account? Not just control it, but make it totally theirs. This episode tells the story of how someone tried to steal an Instagram account from someone.
Sponsors
Support for this show comes from Linode. Linode supplies you with virtual servers. Visit linode.com/darknet and get a special offer.
Support for this show comes from Blinkist. They offer thousands of condensed non-fiction books, so you can get through books in about 15 minutes. Check out Blinkist.com/DARKNET to start your 7 day free trial and get 25% off when you sign up.
Sources
Login