The platform provided services facilitating  financial crime like money laundering, identity theft, distributed denial-of-service (DDoS), bypassing two-factor authentication (2FA), fake or stolen IDs and other personal data, renting malware, using cash-out services, email and telephone flooding, identity lookup, and much more. 

The marketplace was officially launched on January 19. However, cyber analysts at threat intelligence at Resecurity, a threat intelligence company, claims to have sighted mentions of STYX on the dark web since early 2022, when the founders were still creating the escrow module. 

Apparently, STYX accepts payments using a variety of cryptocurrencies and has a dedicated section for approved vendors, in an effort to gain trust in the platform. 

All Things Financial-crime

Following the discovery of the notorious platform, it was further noted that STYX was involved in the post-pandemic menace of cyber-enabled financial crime. Adding to this is the threat it posses to financial institutions and their customers. 

STYX was discovered at the same time as Resecurity financial crime risk analysts noticed a sharp rise in threat actors providing services for money laundering that target cryptocurrencies and digital banking accounts. 

Resecurity’s research also determines some of the most used cyber-crime tactics by threat actors, namely cybercriminal cash-outs, and the use of virtual credit cards (VCCs) and NFC merchant terminals that are illicitly operated to aid in cybercrime activities. 

Moreover, the investigation led to the discovery of 100 mules account. Following which, the firm shared these accounts to the victims, allowing them to speedily identify money mule rings and other linked criminal organizations that were previously undetected. 

“Resecurity also identified a group of trending cash-out vendors that charge commissions based on the exact BIN of the card and brand of gift card,” the researchers stated in a report. 

Apparently, STYX accommodates a great number of cash-out shops across the world, that offers “clean” funds via Apply Pay, PayPal business accounts with merchant terminals, and other financial institutions in the U.S., U.K., and Canada. 

The emergence of STYX as a new platform for financially motivated cybercriminals demonstrates the continued profitability of the black market for services. 

To reduce the effectiveness of the services offered in these criminal markets, digital banks, online payment platforms, and e-commerce systems must accept the challenge and improve their KYC checks and fraud defenses.