4 ms·

Potential twist: it’s operated by the FBI/Secret Service/IRS/NSA. Would be a great way to compile a list of “addresses of interest.”

by qzw 5y ago

Wingman4l7 5y ago
Not far-fetched at all. The FBI has set up at least one carder forum to catch entire networks of credit card thieves, and in the past they set up a whole fake bank to entice money laundering operations from drug cartels: https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2019/02/13/694549634/episode-418-a-fake-bank-for-money-laundering-run-by-the-government https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2019/02/13/694549634/epis...
- CrazyStat 5y ago
  Also the recent ANOM sting [1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANOM https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANOM
  - jmkni 5y ago
    What about the recently launched privacy focused photo app called Stingle - https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/08/foss-mobile-app-stingle-wants-to-privately-securely-back-up-your-photos/ https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/08/foss-mobile-app-stin... If that isn’t an FBI sting I don’t know what is lol
Scoundreller 5y ago
So, how does it work? Can I submit any address for checking? If so, I know some addresses I don’t like. Or do they require you to sign a message with your wallet? If so, you’ve gotta be really dumb to show your hand like that. But I could still see users trying for funzies. How much does it cost to check? (If anything?)
- pphysch 5y ago
  There is definitely noise and false positives as with any honeypot, but there is probably enough signal among the noise to correlate with other datasets and contribute to crime detection models.
vmception 5y ago
> The problem is, cashing out in Monero raises eyebrows on exchanges and mail by cash method is sometimes risky as well. Yeah, Monero doesn't raise eyebrows. This adds another point to FBI/The SS/IRS/NSA. Exchanges only track fund sources because they can see it. Banks don't even do that, so this is a separate higher standard for crypto exchanges that accept surveillance coins. And when exchanges can't see it because the funds came from Monero or Tornado.cash they just revert to bank standards.

Potential twist: it’s operated by the FBI/Secret Service/IRS/NSA. Would be a great way to compile a list of “addresses of interest.”

by qzw 5y ago

Potential twist: it’s operated by the FBI/Secret Service/IRS/NSA. Would be a great way to compile a list of “addresses of interest.”

Wingman4l7 5y ago

Not far-fetched at all. The FBI has set up at least one carder forum to catch entire networks of credit card thieves, and in the past they set up a whole fake bank to entice money laundering operations from drug cartels: https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2019/02/13/694549634/episode-418-a-fake-bank-for-money-laundering-run-by-the-government https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2019/02/13/694549634/epis...

CrazyStat 5y ago
Also the recent ANOM sting [1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANOM https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANOM
- jmkni 5y ago
  What about the recently launched privacy focused photo app called Stingle - https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/08/foss-mobile-app-stingle-wants-to-privately-securely-back-up-your-photos/ https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/08/foss-mobile-app-stin... If that isn’t an FBI sting I don’t know what is lol

Scoundreller 5y ago

So, how does it work? Can I submit any address for checking? If so, I know some addresses I don’t like. Or do they require you to sign a message with your wallet? If so, you’ve gotta be really dumb to show your hand like that. But I could still see users trying for funzies. How much does it cost to check? (If anything?)

pphysch 5y ago
There is definitely noise and false positives as with any honeypot, but there is probably enough signal among the noise to correlate with other datasets and contribute to crime detection models.

vmception 5y ago

> The problem is, cashing out in Monero raises eyebrows on exchanges and mail by cash method is sometimes risky as well. Yeah, Monero doesn't raise eyebrows. This adds another point to FBI/The SS/IRS/NSA. Exchanges only track fund sources because they can see it. Banks don't even do that, so this is a separate higher standard for crypto exchanges that accept surveillance coins. And when exchanges can't see it because the funds came from Monero or Tornado.cash they just revert to bank standards.