Evolution -- The largest
Deep Web drugs marketplace, disappeared suddenly overnight from the Internet.
But unlike Silk Road, there is no indication that the law enforcement took down
the Evolution marketplace.
The Darknet’s most popular markets for
drugs and bespoke carjacking services is mysteriously offline Wednesday with
rumours circulating over the Internet that its own administrators may have just
scammed its huge user base and stole $12 Millions in Bitcoin.
The Evolution black marketplace opened in
January 2014, and gained popularity after the shutdown of Silk Road and arrest
of its unassuming founder, Ross Ulbricht, with a promise of less
fraud.
Like Silk Road, Evolution also dealt in drugs, as well as
illegal weapons, counterfeit goods, stolen credit cards and guides to
committing fraud.
Evolution was only accessible through
anonymity Tor network. At the time of its apparent vanish, Evolution was home
to nearly 20,000 drug sales, far more than Silk Road or Silk Road 2.
In order to buy or sell goods, a user just
need to registering an account for free. Once registered, users could browse
thousands of user-submitted list of illicit goods -- from weapons like guns,
tasers hidden in fake cigarette packets to plenty of other fraud material --
and buy products with digital currency Bitcoin.
Evolution was also slicker, faster and
more professional than other dark web marketplaces. It also promises greater
trust to its customers due to its centralized "escrow" system, the
supposedly security feature that actually allowed the site’s admins to make off
with its users’ Bitcoin.
Evolution holds the vendors’ Bitcoin funds
in the site’s centralized "escrow" system before Evolution’s
administrators and the two of the parties involved in a transaction signed off
on transactions.
REDDIT USER CLAIMED -- VENDORS TOOK ALL
BITCOINS
However late Tuesday, a post on the r/darknets subreddit made by a user named NSWGreat claimed to
confirm that the Evolution’s administrators—Verto and Kimble—had shut down the
market, and escaped with users’ bitcoin funds stored in the market’s
"escrow" vaults.
"I
have admin access to see parts of the back end, the admins are preparing to
exit scam with all the funds," NSWGreat wrote. "Not a single
withdrawal has gone through in almost a week."
After confronting Kimble and Verto,
NSWGreat said the administrators "confirmed they are doing it right
now,"later adding that "yes, this is real, no this isn't
maintenance."
If the posts on Agora and Reddit come out
to be true that the Evolution administrators did scam, the stolen amount could
be in the Millions of dollars, as users were having tens of thousands of
dollars worth of Bitcoin in escrow vaults.
"I
am so sorry, but Verto and Kimble have f–ked us all," NSWGreat wrote.
"I have over $20,000 in escrow myself from sales. I’m sorry for
everyone’s loses, I’m gutted and speechless. I feel so betrayed."
A similar scam was carried out two years
ago at another dark web market called Sheep, one of Silk Road’s successors. However that time,
Sheep administrators announced that the site had been robbed of Bitcoin by a
vendor who found flaws in the system, and shut itself down.
But users believed that the Sheep Marketplace’s operator scammed its customers and walked
away with nearly 39,918 Bitcoins, which were worth more than $40 Million at the
time when Sheep marketplace shut down.
CUSTOMERS FURY ON SUDDEN SHUT DOWN
The community members are very furious
about the sudden shutdown of Evolution marketplace. One warned that Kimble and
Vertu have "got got 24 hours (and that is being generous) to make this
right and re-open the market, and allow people access to their funds. Once that
time passes - my crystal ball starts talking and unless you've changed
identities and moved, you will be F----D."
Another
member wrote, "I'M A VENDOR WITH EVERYTHING INVESTED IN THIS SITE, IN
THIS 50+ BTC IN THE F--ING SITE..." "I OWE MONEY AND CAN'T PAY IF
THIS IS TRUE... MY LIFES IN DANGER... PLEASE DON'T BE TRUE PLEASE."
VERTO EXPLANATION ON TOOK DOWN
Verto, the main administrator of
Evolution, explained to its customers in the most cavalier way possible that he
had stolen their money out of fear of getting took down. However, the post
could be completely concocted, but here what it reads:
"Due to unforseen events I decided
to close down Evolution Marketplace. We want to thank you guys for you effort
and help making this the most profitable and popular marketplace. This wasn’t
an easy decision but due to other marketplaces getting shut down and the forum
going downhill I decided to cut my ties and exit with an eight figure profit.
The millions from evo will be divided up amongst the mods a few admin and
members. Since this is such an abundance of money I may consider buy ins from
former evo members in exchange for 1k bitcoinis. I’ll be around around for a
short period of time before permanently moving to the caribbeans, I hope you
guys understand."
This is really a very disappointing news
for those who have their Bitcoin funds in escrow.
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