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The darknet, a hidden part of the internet accessible only through specialized software, is known for its anonymous nature and thriving underground economy. Within this clandestine realm, darknet markets serve as virtual marketplaces where users can buy and sell various illegal goods and services. One of the well-known darknet markets is called Dream.
For physical products like drugs or counterfeit goods, the vendor will often mail them to the customer’s preferred address and take payment via Bitcoin or through the marketplace escrow service. Dark web vendors sell stolen personal identifying information (PII), stolen credit card numbers with verification codes, fraudulent bank accounts, and fraud software. Credit card skimmers, RFID readers, and cloning devices are also sold. In just a few minutes, anyone can download the Tor browser, navigate to a dark web marketplace, create a vendor account, and start listing illicit goods or services for sales on the dark web. In 2017 a multinational police operation, Operation Bayonet, seized AlphaBay, a vast market ten times the size of the Silk Road.
ASAP market is sorted into different categories, a majority of them being drug-related. As such you will find stimulants, cannabis and hashish, steroids, barbiturates, ecstasy, opioids and various others. As of mid 2023, Abacus has one of the largest product portfolios of currently available darknet markets so you should definitely check it out. Finally we are ready to publish our list of recommended darknet markets and shops for 2023. You may ask why this is published in the middle of the year instead of the beginning.
Dream: An Overview
Dream Market, often referred to as just “Dream,” was one of the most prominent darknet markets until its closure in April 2019. It gained popularity for its user-friendly interface, reliable security measures, and extensive range of illicit products available for purchase.
The Vendor Experience on Dream
Vendors are an essential part of the darknet market ecosystem. They are individuals or groups who offer products or services for sale on platforms like Dream. To maintain a functioning marketplace, vendors typically pay fees to the platform operators.
Because some markets do not classify product listings or misclassify listings, we used a set of keywords to extract the relevant listings for the analysis (see Appendix I for a full list of keywords). The data only includes marketplaces with more than one vendor and more than 100 stolen data listings. We begin with a review of digital marketplaces on the darkweb with a focus on their maturation from more centralized to decentralized illicit economies. We then connect this work with research on the impact of interdictions on darknet markets, theoretically grounding our discussion in rational choice and social learning theories. We then detail a mass longitudinal data collection effort to track vendor flows across multiple large-scale marketplaces and the social network methods used to examine the connectivity of this darknet ecosystem.
Vendor Fees on Dream Market
Darknet Markets Noobs Buyers Bible (2024 Updated)
As with many other darknet markets, Dream charged vendors fees for using their platform to sell goods or services. These fees served various purposes, including maintaining site operations, ensuring security, and combating scams and fraud within the marketplace.
Types of Fees:
But among users of the dark web, “WHM” was, for years, the go-to online marketplace for illegal drugs and fraudulent credit cards. The dependent variable measures the intensity of vendor flows between any two sets of digital marketplaces involved in the sale of stolen data. The networks are two-mode network affiliation data that records all markets a vendor advertised stolen data products (vendor-by-market) and the dates they were recorded as listing these products.
Dream Market implemented different fee structures depending on the type of vendor:
- Registration Fee: Vendors were required to pay a one-time registration fee upon joining the platform. This fee helped deter potential scammers and malicious actors from easily creating multiple vendor accounts.
- Listing Fee: When vendors listed their products or services on Dream, they were charged a listing fee. This fee contributed to the costs associated with maintaining product databases, ensuring accurate listings, and managing the platform’s infrastructure.
- Transaction Fee: Dream also applied a transaction fee on each successful sale made by vendors. This fee helped cover operational costs related to payment processing, dispute resolution, and customer support.
Note: The exact fee amounts varied over time, and different markets may have different fee structures.
Google Releases the First Critical Security Update of 2024 for Chrome Users
The Rationale Behind Vendor Fees
In any case, platform users are taking a calculated risk; a roughly one-in-180 chance (one day every six months) of being caught up in an exit scam when they are using the platform. Engstrom’s indictment, announced by the DOJ on Tuesday, also provides a window into how investigators trace even the most careful dark web transactions. Engstrom allegedly used a cryptocurrency-to-cash exchange called BitLiquid to convert his earnings to US dollars.
Crime displacement, rational choice and offender networks
Charging fees to vendors played a crucial role in maintaining the overall integrity and sustainability of darknet markets like Dream. By imposing financial obligations, the platforms aimed to deter scammers and ensure that only serious and trustworthy vendors operated within their marketplaces.
Additionally, these fees often funded ongoing efforts to enhance security measures, invest in advanced technologies, and hire skilled staff to monitor and regulate activities on the platform. This proactive approach helped protect both vendors and buyers from potential risks associated with illegal transactions.
In Conclusion
Darknet markets like Dream required vendors to pay various fees, including registration fees, listing fees, and transaction fees. These charges were essential for maintaining a secure and reliable marketplace, deterring fraudulent activities, and funding continuous improvements to the platform.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. Engaging in illegal activities or accessing the darknet may violate local laws and regulations.
