Prosecutors said the online marketplace allowed users to anonymously buy and sell illegal drugs from anywhere on the globe with an internet connection and a Tor web browser, a tool that makes it difficult to track users. Users began reporting unexplained delays and failures in withdrawing funds, sparking fears that Incognito’s administrators were perpetrating an “exit scam” – a scenario where the operators disappear with all the money held in escrow. In February 2024, many vendors found they could no longer withdraw their Bitcoin (BTC) earnings from the site, and by early March both BTC and Monero (XMR) withdrawals had ground to a halt. He posted a message on the dark web forum Dread (a Reddit-like hub for darknet discussions), claiming the withdrawal problems were due to technical upgrades and urging patience. Prominent voices in the darknet community, including Dread’s own administrator “Hugbunter,” grew suspicious.
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Our commitment is unwavering,” said Chief Postal Inspector Gary Barksdale, United States Postal Inspection Service. Vendors paid a non-refundable admission fee of $750 and a 5% commission on each sale to Incognito Market, according to the indictment. Incognito Market mimicked legitimate e-commerce sites with features like branding, advertising and customer service. Users could search listings for various narcotics after logging in with unique credentials. The underground marketplace facilitated an overall sale of more than $100 million of narcotics in its 41 months of operation. The popularity of this marketplace can be gauged from the fact that by June 2023 it was generating sales of $5 million per month.
How Incognito Market Maintained Anonymity
Typically, an exit scam involves the abrupt cessation of DNM operations, with administrators disappearing along with the funds held in escrow. However, in this case, Incognito’s administrators have resorted to coercing money from users and vendors who frequented the platform. It began by freezing their cryptocurrency funds, so they couldn’t withdraw their money. Then, the scammers threatened to share the private chat details that were supposed to be secret.
Rui-Siang Lin – who also went by the online pseudonym “Pharoah” or “faro” – is accused of having run the entire business. This included supervising all the platform’s operations, its employees, vendors, and customers, and holding “ultimate decision-making authority over every aspect of the multimillion-dollar operation.” Enterprising youngster, allegedly. The site offered illegal narcotics and misbranded prescription drugs, including heroin, cocaine, LSD, MDMA, oxycodone, methamphetamines, ketamine, and alprazolam. Since its inception in October 2020 until its closure in March, Incognito Market sold vast quantities of illegal narcotics, including hundreds of kilograms of cocaine and methamphetamines, globally via the dark web site that could be reached through Tor web browser. Incognito strives to grow by introducing our company to our customers and using the Incognito marketplace as large format specialty stores for products and services to further deepen their familiarity with them. Incognito Link is committed to keeping our platform secure by using the latest security measures to protect the identity and information of Incognito users.
Partnerships
- In furtherance of Operation RapTOR and in their first action as a JCODE member agency, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) additionally sanctioned Behrouz Parsarad, an Iranian national, for his role as the founder and operator of Nemesis Market following seizure of the market.
- Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Monero have revolutionized online transactions by offering anonymity and decentralization, making them the currencies of choice for darknet marketplaces like Incognito.
- The marketplace was raking in millions of dollars in cryptocurrency, with Lin taking a 5% cut from every transaction.
- Many modern darknet markets have since gone further, with some operating exclusively in Monero to avoid the kind of blockchain tracing that helped catch Lin.
Last week, the Department of Justice arrested two brothers who allegedly conducted a $25 million theft on the Ethereum blockchain. 6 days later, on 6th March, vendors were locked out of crucial market features and missing all withdraws. On 9th March, Incognito Market started to extort vendors and buyers, asking for payments in a range between $100 – $20.000 in accordance to the level of vendor market’s.
The market’s reputation for reliability and security quickly spread, and soon, Incognito was competing with—and in many cases, surpassing—It appears the response got cut off midway. By 2023, it had become one of the most popular darknet marketplaces, attracting thousands of users from around the world. The platform offered everything from narcotics and counterfeit currency to hacking tools and illegal firearms.
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The platform is in a phase of active development, with its team committed to enhancing the overall user experience. Planned updates include features like auto-withdrawal, dark mode, additional cryptocurrency support, improved review systems, better communication tools, and a sophisticated search engine, all aimed at elevating Incognito’s position in the darknet ecosystem. Initially, users from the USA were prohibited from using the Incognito, but now they welcome buyers and sellers from all over the world. The team behind Incognito Market also created libre forum, a darknet discussion board.
- The FBI was able to identify several such errors during their investigation, which gave them critical insights into how the market operated and who was involved.
- Despite its growing vendor base, Incognito offers a wide array of unique and extraordinary items, going beyond what typical markets offer.
- According to court records and the TRM Labs investigation, the end of Incognito was foreshadowed by chaos.
- According to court documents and statements made in court, Srinivasan and Ta used the “redlightlabs” darknet account to advertise and sell counterfeit M30 oxycodone pills containing fentanyl and other illicit drugs.
- This development marks a significant breakthrough in combating cyber-enabled drug distribution.
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We can ensure that our market has carefully cared to every one of our users security needs. Quality control is one of our number one priorities on Incognito Market, we strive to provide our users with only the BEST end product, we do this through our careful selection of vendors. We have employed only the most modern styling to our market, this means that we have made everything very easy for all users, even your grandma could order a kilo on Incognito!. Merchants that rent every FE and 1/2 of FE can get help from the dark internet market administrator (raising a ticket).
It likely raised eyebrows that a young diplomat was so invested in dark web analytics. Moreover, the Namecheap domain registrations under Lin’s name provided a concrete link between his real-life identity and the dark web (through that market-tracking site). Investigators could use that to build probable cause that Lin and Pharaoh were one and the same.
Decoding Incognito Exit Scam
In a startling disclosure, Hugbunter claimed that Pharaoh had even attempted to bribe him to censor discussions about Incognito’s issues, confirming that an exit scam was indeed unfolding. The mass-extortion of Incognito Market users comes just days after a large number of users reported they were no longer able to withdraw funds from their buyer or seller accounts. The cryptocurrency-focused publication Cointelegraph.com reported Mar. 6 that Incognito was exit-scamming its users out of their bitcoins and Monero deposits. A 2022 Twitter thread about Incognito posted by Eileen Ormsby, an author of several dark-web-focused books including The Darkest Web, shows how the market by that time had added features that may have helped it to catch the attention of security- and safety-conscious users.
Inside, buyers could browse thousands of drug listings, many accompanied by reviews and ratings. The platform also featured prescription drug listings falsely marketed as authentic, and some products were outright scams—counterfeit pills advertised as legitimate pharmaceuticals. It wasn’t enough that the dark web marketplace facilitated the exchange of dangerous drugs and illegal activities. Incognito’s Market’s operators went a step further by making off with its users’ funds. While Lin profited in the millions off Incognito Market, authorities estimate that the darknet site sold more than $100 million in illegal narcotics, including hundreds of kilograms of cocaine and methamphetamine, in less than four years. “Operation RapTor shows that the dark web is not beyond the reach of law enforcement,” said Head of Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre, Edvardas Šileris.
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Some users reuse passwords, forget to encrypt certain messages, or make other basic mistakes that can leave them vulnerable. Lin knew that a single point of failure could bring down the entire operation, so he distributed the market’s servers across multiple countries, each with its own security protocols. This meant that even if one server was compromised, the rest of the network would remain intact, allowing the market to continue operating without interruption. Born in Taiwan, Lin was a bright student, excelling in computer science and cybersecurity. By the time he graduated from National Taiwan University in June 2023, he had already built a reputation as a blockchain enthusiast and a skilled developer.
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To become an Incognito vendor, each vendor was required to register with the site and pay an admission fee. In exchange for listing and selling narcotics as a vendor on Incognito Market, each vendor paid 5% of the purchase price of every narcotic sold to Incognito Market. That revenue, according to the indictment, funded Incognito Market’s operations, including paying “employee” salaries and for computer servers.
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In a statement dripping with irony, he wrote that “Our goals do not lie in aiding the surveillance autocracy of state-sponsored agencies… This service is dedicated to individuals that have the need to possess complete privacy on the blockchain”. This move positioned Pharaoh as something of a champion of privacy in the eyes of darknet denizens. It also showcased his technical acumen – straddling the line between criminal utility and software entrepreneurship. LIN was arrested at John F. Kennedy Airport on May 18, 2024, and will be presented in Manhattan federal court before U.S. After logging in with a unique username and password, users were able to search thousands of listings for narcotics of their choice.
“For example, in November 2023, an undercover law enforcement agent received several tablets that purported to be oxycodone, which were purchased on Incognito Market. Testing on those tablets revealed that they were not authentic oxycodone at all and were, in fact, fentanyl pills,” the Justice Department said. Just as Incognito built on the playbook of its predecessors, future markets will learn from RapTor. But with blockchain intelligence advancing and global partnerships strengthening, law enforcement is better positioned than ever to detect, disrupt, and dismantle these operations. Designed to resemble a legitimate e-commerce platform, Incognito offered a slick user experience with branding, advertising, and customer support. Upon visiting the site via the Tor browser, users were greeted by a graphic interface and prompted to log in with a unique username and password.
