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When I read this I was assuming there would be some complex darkweb site used to organize this but nope, they did it on discord and telegram. This almost sounds

When I read this I was assuming there would be some complex darkweb site used to organize this but nope, they did it on discord and telegram. This almost sounds more like idiots being idiots then any kind of organized threat

robertlagrant 4y ago
Something's still organised enough to be a threat if it works.
MonkeyMalarky 4y ago
I was hoping for something like the crime app from season 3 of Westworld.
- joe_g_young 4y ago
  Me too
davedx 4y ago
Yeah, it’s not “as-a-service”
- whateveracct 4y ago
  Do you realize the word "service" has a meaning beyond "web service"?
throwaway787544 4y ago
Most of them are total morons. Imagine the average genius that sticks up a liquor store, but have them go on random chat rooms asking how they can learn to sim swap.
anonporridge 4y ago
Alternatively, organizing crime on discord and telegram is hard enough to detect, monitor, and squash, and provides enough improvement to outcomes and profits, that it's shining a light on how incompetent our law enforcement actually is at policing this kind of organization, and that more sophisticated technologies like Tor and crypto oriented dark net markets aren't strictly necessary.
- bioemerl 4y ago
  Telegram I can understand, but discord is a centralized platform that doesn't encrypt your messages. I'm astounded the authorities don't have a direct ability to just search their database at this point.
  - anonporridge 4y ago
    I'm sure they do, but the shear amount of data surely must make it incredibly difficult to accurately detect. And worse, being a platform for gamers, the conversation of real world criminals might be very difficult to differentiate from regular gamer talk. Just think how many groups are constantly chatting about GTA V. They're literally talking about the crimes they're committing (in the game world). Discord might actually be the perfect place for criminals to hide their conversations in plain sight.
    - littlestymaar 4y ago
      > I'm sure they do, but the shear amount of data surely must make it incredibly difficult to accurately detect. Except once you get one person who belong to such a group (by any conventional means) or even have one informant, then you can see where they hang out on discord (and there won't be a million of channels to scan) and now you have access to a nice topology of discord use for organized crime.
    - brandall10 4y ago
      How do the people interested in this type of mayhem find it? If it's out in the relative open, it shouldn't be hard to find for someone that is motivated.
    - gruez 4y ago
      There's even a page for this on kym, although not with "GTA V": https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/in-minecraft https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/in-minecraft
  - brnt 4y ago
    Telegram doesn't encrypt any more than Discord: through https. Telegram offers a 1:1 e2e encryption option, but few use it, because it does not propagate to other devices.
jotm 4y ago
Why not, drugs are easier to buy on Instagram for the average person. Even though AlphaBay is very easy to access, it's still not that easy. Everyone has an Insta account. Now, hiding their identities... yeah, some improvements can be made
- jamiek88 4y ago
  Yeah back before weed was legal in enough states for me to not feel travel limited Insta was the way to find a plug in a new town. They’d often sidechat you onto kik or something like that but initial find was on insta. If I can navigate it the 20 year olds sure can.
Animats 4y ago
It's New Jersey, home of organized criminals who can't make it in New York City.
avodonosov 4y ago
While the cases in the article use discord/telegram, it does not mean the dark web does not have this. And I am sure it will have in the future. Ananymous communication and payment tech create a possibility for such market. And the possibility combined with demand will inevitably turn into reality.
squarefoot 4y ago
The ones organized on the dark web probably are those we don't hear about.
layer8 4y ago
It’s to be expected that we hear more about the idiots who get caught.
watwut 4y ago
A lot of organized crime is idiots. Aggressive ones etc, but smarts is not exactly the defining feature. Smart ones gets into business and commit well hidden frauds rather then violence (which tends to attract attention, eventually).

robertlagrant 4y ago

Something's still organised enough to be a threat if it works.

MonkeyMalarky 4y ago

I was hoping for something like the crime app from season 3 of Westworld.

joe_g_young 4y ago
Me too

davedx 4y ago

Yeah, it’s not “as-a-service”

whateveracct 4y ago
Do you realize the word "service" has a meaning beyond "web service"?

throwaway787544 4y ago

Most of them are total morons. Imagine the average genius that sticks up a liquor store, but have them go on random chat rooms asking how they can learn to sim swap.

anonporridge 4y ago

Alternatively, organizing crime on discord and telegram is hard enough to detect, monitor, and squash, and provides enough improvement to outcomes and profits, that it's shining a light on how incompetent our law enforcement actually is at policing this kind of organization, and that more sophisticated technologies like Tor and crypto oriented dark net markets aren't strictly necessary.

bioemerl 4y ago
Telegram I can understand, but discord is a centralized platform that doesn't encrypt your messages. I'm astounded the authorities don't have a direct ability to just search their database at this point.
- anonporridge 4y ago
  I'm sure they do, but the shear amount of data surely must make it incredibly difficult to accurately detect. And worse, being a platform for gamers, the conversation of real world criminals might be very difficult to differentiate from regular gamer talk. Just think how many groups are constantly chatting about GTA V. They're literally talking about the crimes they're committing (in the game world). Discord might actually be the perfect place for criminals to hide their conversations in plain sight.
  - littlestymaar 4y ago
    > I'm sure they do, but the shear amount of data surely must make it incredibly difficult to accurately detect. Except once you get one person who belong to such a group (by any conventional means) or even have one informant, then you can see where they hang out on discord (and there won't be a million of channels to scan) and now you have access to a nice topology of discord use for organized crime.
  - brandall10 4y ago
    How do the people interested in this type of mayhem find it? If it's out in the relative open, it shouldn't be hard to find for someone that is motivated.
  - gruez 4y ago
    There's even a page for this on kym, although not with "GTA V": https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/in-minecraft https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/in-minecraft
- brnt 4y ago
  Telegram doesn't encrypt any more than Discord: through https. Telegram offers a 1:1 e2e encryption option, but few use it, because it does not propagate to other devices.

jotm 4y ago

Why not, drugs are easier to buy on Instagram for the average person. Even though AlphaBay is very easy to access, it's still not that easy. Everyone has an Insta account. Now, hiding their identities... yeah, some improvements can be made

jamiek88 4y ago
Yeah back before weed was legal in enough states for me to not feel travel limited Insta was the way to find a plug in a new town. They’d often sidechat you onto kik or something like that but initial find was on insta. If I can navigate it the 20 year olds sure can.

Animats 4y ago

It's New Jersey, home of organized criminals who can't make it in New York City.

avodonosov 4y ago

While the cases in the article use discord/telegram, it does not mean the dark web does not have this. And I am sure it will have in the future. Ananymous communication and payment tech create a possibility for such market. And the possibility combined with demand will inevitably turn into reality.

squarefoot 4y ago

The ones organized on the dark web probably are those we don't hear about.

layer8 4y ago

It’s to be expected that we hear more about the idiots who get caught.

watwut 4y ago

A lot of organized crime is idiots. Aggressive ones etc, but smarts is not exactly the defining feature. Smart ones gets into business and commit well hidden frauds rather then violence (which tends to attract attention, eventually).