Crime FBI shuts alleged online drug marketplace Silk Road

[tom_mai78101]

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. law enforcement authorities have shut down "Silk Road," an anonymous Internet marketplace for illegal drugs like heroin and cocaine and criminal activities such as murder for hire, and arrested its alleged owner.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation said Wednesday it arrested Silk Road owner, Ross William Ulbricht, 29, known online as "Dread Pirate Roberts," in San Francisco on Tuesday, according to court filings.

Ulbricht, who holds an advanced degree in chemical engineering, appeared in federal court on Wednesday and a bail hearing was set for Friday.

His lawyer Brandon LeBlanc, a public defender, declined to comment.

Federal prosecutors in New York charged Ulbricht with one count each of narcotics trafficking conspiracy, computer hacking conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy, the filing said.

"Silk Road has emerged as the most sophisticated and extensive criminal marketplace on the Internet today," FBI agent Christopher Tarbell said in the criminal complaint.

Read more here.

 

[tom_mai78101]

Coincidence?

The Bonehead Mistake That Brought Down an Online Drug-Dealing Empire

Even the finest programmers could use a little help from their friends on Stack Overflow now and then. The site, which invites users to ask and answer one another’s questions about specific coding problems, has become a global hub for software engineers, catering to pros and amateurs alike. Silk Road mastermind “Dread Pirate Roberts,” it seems, was no exception.

According to the criminal complaint against Ross William Ulbricht, the man who allegedly ran the vast online drug marketplace from his San Francisco apartment, he ventured humbly onto the site in March 2012 to ask a couple of friendly questions. The first one, it seems, was relatively innocuous, if a bit unorthodox. But a second query struck FBI investigators as rather incriminating, in retrospect: “How can I connect to a Tor hidden service using curl in php?” the user asked. Silk Road is, of course, a Tor hidden service—perhaps the world’s most famous one at that.
But here’s the facepalm-worthy part: According to the criminal complaint, Ulbricht posted the question using his own real name. Less than one minute later, he changed his username to “frosty.” And then, one assumes, banged his head against a hard wall several times.

Read more here.
Stack Overflow question.

 

[FireCat]

That's Just Great!

 

[The Helper]

haha - i have made stupid mistakes like that before but we are now in the day and age that people really are watching.

 

[Varine]

How the fuck am I supposed to get my kind bud now? Fucking FBI, involving themselves in perfectly legitimate free trade.