The case, widely covered by cybersecurity outlets such as Cybernews, Hackread, Neowin, and Bitdefender, raises many questions. The entire trove is priced at just $750. Alina is a history buff passionate about cybersecurity and anything sci-fi, advocating Bitdefender technologies and solutions.
How Do Dark Web Marketplaces Work
Indeed, Russian sites played host to an outsize proportion of hacked VPN account details, with 43% of VPN credentials globally from three of 15 darknet markets. The following table shows which hacked account credentials were most popular on the Russian-language darknet markets in terms of individual brands. The following table shows which categories of hacked account credentials were most popular on the Russian-language darknet markets.
The researchers found that one seller was offering a verified PayPal account with a balance of $3,000 for $200. However, another trader which sold "fullz" packages raised the price to $18. According to the researchers, the Dark Web is "awash" with stolen information.
A single hacked account can open the door to identity theft, due to password re-use and the wealth of personal details stored within that can be exploited. The markets are often used to buy and sell personal data, along with other contraband including weapons and illicit drugs. The average person has dozens of accounts which form their online identity, all of which can be hacked and sold. The Darknet Market Price Index has been tracking the trade in hacked online accounts since 2018. The process of taking over a PayPal account is somewhat different from stealing credit card data, with the vital information being in the form of usernames and passwords, rather than card and CVV numbers. This data – most often stolen through phishing, credential stuffing, data breaches, and card skimmers – is bought and sold on dark web marketplaces.
Most Popular Data For Sale On The Dark Web
Foss explains that there’s no shortage of cyber threats facing retailers and shoppers this holiday season, as the volume and sophistication of cyberattacks surges with more consumers opting to shop online Experts advise enabling multi-factor authentication, changing passwords regularly, and checking for data leaks. In 2025, PayPal agreed to pay $2 million to US regulators for failing to comply with cybersecurity requirements. Whether these credentials are old or new, the risks for users are real.
- Malware such as keyloggers can steal your passwords and other personal data that can be used to access your online accounts and commit identify theft.
- "Doing business in this manner creates a separation between the theft and sale of the data that reduces the risk for the thieves and the sellers," the team added.
- In conducting this research, we have assembled the world’s largest dataset of darknet market listings for hacked account details.
- However, Kraken had a much narrower offering than the other big markets with largely just streaming and VPN accounts for sale and just 19 brands in total.
- The hefty losses in value reflect jitters in traditional markets.
- The markets with the most listings for hacked streaming accounts were Nemesis, Kingdom and Kraken, which hosted 63.5% of all such listings.
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These sites cater to cybercriminals seeking valuable data, such as credit card numbers, login credentials, and personal information. Vendors even sell access to paid online subscription services at lower prices—if customers are willing to take the risk of discovery. Cloned and stolen credit cards or user data, which criminals have skimmed, are offered by the sellers in commercial-looking offers.
Watch Out For Phishing
In a similar study earlier this year, we noted an average price of 3.13 cents per dollar in the account. Fullz, or full information, includes the cardholder’s social security number, street address, birth date, and more. That merchant specifically mentioned that using a stolen card on a store that uses Verified by Visa (VBV) will likely void the card.
Data Processing
People generally buy these accounts due to content restrictions on their own accounts. So, investor uncertainty in stock and bond markets, for example, also showed up in the crypto markets. The hefty losses in value reflect jitters in traditional markets. Guides to cashing out these transfers without alerting the authorities often accompany the purchase of payment processing accounts, another commonly listed item. (The more expensive option would be transferred from a hacked account.)
Use Strong, Unique Passwords
During the second half of 2022, law enforcement cracked down on a large number of darknet markets, temporarily disrupting the supply of such illicit goods. It is one of the most active and up to date markets and always provides new and updated malware and data. Freshtools is a unique marketplace in that it does not only provide the stolen data, but it allows criminals to purchase MaaS which can cause further damage to the victims.
NordVPN accounts were particularly prevalent in the Russian darknet markets, where we found over half the listings for stolen NordVPN credentials included in this study. The following table shows the 20 VPN services whose hacked account credentials were most frequently listed for sale on the darknet markets. The high volume of listings for hacked credentials for Russian streaming services were limited to Russian markets, which explains the lower prices (60% less on average). The table below shows the 20 streaming services whose hacked account credentials were most frequently listed for sale on the darknet markets. This section analyzes current darknet market listings for hacked accounts and identifies the relative popularity of credentials for individual brands. For this latest report, we have switched our primary focus from the average pricing of hacked accounts on the darknet markets to investigating which stolen log-ins were most frequently listed for sale.
There is also a growing market for fake documents, such as IDs, and passports. This causes websites to crash or gamers to be booted out of live-action online games. However, this is because it is the most profitable; ransomware attacks can earn cybercriminals millions of dollars, which is why this part of the dark web market is highly lucrative. As you can see, malware is some of the most expensive data on the dark web. Malware for sale is divided into categories, depending on its likelihood of successfully infecting systems. Possibly one of the most dangerous products for sale on the dark web is malware.
Is It Real Or A Scam?
Stolen credit and debit card data, along with bank and online payment account details, have long been the most popular items for sale on the darknet markets. Comparitech researchers analyzed listings across 40+ dark web marketplaces gathering data on how much stolen identities, credit cards and hacked PayPal accounts are worth to cybercriminals. On the Russian darknet markets, VPN account log-ins were the most popular stolen credentials for sale, accounting for almost 40% of all listings. Streaming and VPN services dominated the listings of hacked accounts for sale on the darknet markets, together accounting for 57% of all log-ins available for purchase. The Darknet Market Price Index is a series of research reports that track the average sale prices of stolen online account credentials and personal data.
Log-ins for everyday services like Netflix and Spotify primarily offer a route into potential identity theft, since it remains so common for people to reuse their passwords. Our personal information has real value on the dark web because it can be used fraudulently in such a wide variety of ways to make a profit at your expense. Our report on this topic was published in July 2018 and included data on U.S. and UK brands.
However, PayPal quickly denied any new breach, instead pointing to a “security incident” from 2022, which involved credential stuffing attacks and resulted in regulators fining the firm earlier this year. Get a personalized step-by-step Action Plan & ID Safety Score based on YOUR dark web hits.
