World’s largest dark web marketplace is taken down

A multinational operation also involving European, UK and US authorities has taken DarkMarket offline, put a halt to illegal trade on the dark web estimated to be worth €140m (around $170m).

According to Europol, DarkMarket had almost 500,000 users and more than 2,400 sellers at the time of closure. It served as a marketplace for cybercriminals to buy and sell drugs, counterfeit money, stolen or counterfeit credit card data, anonymous SIM cards and malware.

The German authorities have also arrested an Australian citizen who is the alleged operator of DarkMarket, shut down 20 servers associated with the illicit website, and seized more than 4,650 Bitcoin and 12,800 Monero cryptocurrencies.

Last month, Finnish Customs shut down the Sipulimarket dark web marketplace and seized all its content, while in the last few years other major takedowns have included xDedic, AlphaBay, Hansa and Silk Roads 1 and 2.