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Darknet Markets are Scrambling to Attract Joker’s Stash Clients

 

The administrator behind Joker's Stash professes to have formally closed down the operation on 15th February. Meanwhile, criminal gangs offering stolen payment cards for sale have stepped up their promotional efforts. Among the darknet marketplaces vying to get previous Joker's Stash clients are Brian's Club, Vclub, Yale Lodge, and UniCC, Kela says. Joker's Stash clients were likely already searching for a new marketplace, says the threat research firm Digital Shadows, because of the site's declining customer service and having its service hindered by law enforcement officials in December 2020. 

Brian's Club has gone the additional mile with its marketing efforts, Kela says. For instance, it has supplanted Joker's Stash as the official sponsor of the popular underground forum Omerta, which focuses on payment card trading. "With the heavy marketing and advertising that Brian's Club has been investing in, it seems that the long-time attempts of marketing to credit card traders may be finally paying off now that Joker's Stash is out of the picture," says Victoria Kivilevich, a threat intelligence analyst with Kela.

Kela and Flashpoint additionally say that Yale Lodge could arise as a dominant market for stolen card information since it operates both Tor and clear web card shop and has a self-facilitated checking service. This service permits the buyer to verify whether the card data being purchased is substantial. Kivilevich brings up, however, that Yale Lodge charges a $150 registration fee and a minimum deposit of $200, which is 10 times higher than what Joker's Stash required.

Flashpoint says the operators of the Ferum market likewise have a wealth of experience and give simple access, yet the site has less card information available for sale than others. Then, Trump's Dumps, which is a newer operation, has expanded its publicizing, Flashpoint reports. It offers an assortment of services, including a self-facilitated checking service. Kivilevich says she has spotted Vclub members attempting to enlist Joker's Stash clients on darknet forums. Be that as it may, Kela's research has discovered numerous complaints about the quality of cards accessible on Vclub. 

“Cybercriminals buy cards and dump not only in specialized shops but also on forums, via instant messaging channels, and behind closed doors in private deals," Kivilevich says.

Joker's Stash, the Largest Carding Forum Shutting Down

 

Joker's Stash opened in 2014 and was perhaps the most well-known underground carding site which gave new stolen credit card data and a guarantee of card validity. The activity gas has undergone a decline since mid-2020. The normally active administrator, Joker's Stash, had several gaps in communication. Joker's Stash, announced on January 15, 2021, that it is expected to shut down in a month - the stipulated date being February 15, 2021. The news was announced by the site's administrator through messages posted on different underground cybercrime forums where the site normally publicized its services.

Threat intelligence firm Intel 471 posted a blog expressing that Joker's Stash's fall comes after an extremely tempestuous close to 2020, documenting the website's end. In October, the individual who purportedly runs the site declared that he had contracted COVID-19, going through seven days in the hospital. The condition has influenced the site's forums, inventory replenishments, and different tasks. Intel 471 likewise found that the customers of the site were complaining that the shop's payment card data quality was progressively poor. 

The FBI and Interpol held onto four domains operated by the marketplace. During that time, the site's administrators said the law enforcement crackdown left just restricted effect on the site, the domains were just utilized as proxies to reroute clients from landing pages to the genuine marketplace, and that authorities didn't hold onto any servers containing card or client information. Despite the fact that the seizure didn't have a lot of effects, it chiefly influenced the site's reputation and made clients feel that the once-untouchable Joker's Stash was presently an open book for law enforcement agencies. 

The Joker's Stash admin didn't give more insights about the choice to close down the site. They may have chosen to stop as opposed to being taken down by the law enforcement agencies. Nonetheless, that doesn't infer that the site's administrator is now immune to prosecution. Prior to its declaration of closing down, the Joker's Stash was viewed as perhaps the most profitable cybercrime operations today.

As indicated by Christopher Thomas, Intelligence Production Analyst at Gemini Advisory, the shop is assessed to have made countless dollars in illicit profits, despite the fact that this cash also goes to the vendors themselves. Joker's Stash has been working since October 7, 2014. Last year alone, the site had posted more than 35 million CP (card present) records and in excess of 8 million CNP (card not present) records.

The site's administrator intends to wipe all servers and backups when they shut their operations next month.