The ‘Dark Web’ is notorious for hosting websites that host downright outrageous content that may just push any human being’s boundaries. Here are top Dark Web incidents that will give you the chills:
The egregious case of Peter Scully
Peter Scully is a terrifying character whose story will send shivers down your spine. Peter is an Australian who is currently serving a life sentence in the Philippines for human trafficking and rape by sexual assault on minors. He is also charged with child pornography, torture, and murder. He performed all of the aforementioned acts, recorded them, and uploaded the recordings to the dark web.
We were hesitant to include Peter on this list because of what he did. However, what he did is one of the most well-known cases on the dark web, so we had to include it on our list. It also ends on a somewhat reassuring note. While what he did was heinous, Peter Scully was apprehended and should no longer be a threat to anyone.
Edward Snowden
Edward Snowden is a former NSA and CIA employee who went public with his information in 2013. Snowden made public a large amount of classified information about population surveillance. He quickly fled the United States and was on his way to an unknown Latin American country when his passport was revoked while in transit in Moscow. He applied to the Russian government for political asylum and has been living there ever since.
What Edward Snowden did is still highly contentious, but his actions undoubtedly brought the issue of population surveillance to the forefront of civic debate. Snowden is living proof of what governments do behind closed doors and the lengths they will go to prevent information from leaking to the public. He is also a driving force in promoting the value of each individual’s freedom and privacy. He was able to demonstrate that, at least in the United States, people’s private lives are not always that private, and that the government could be spying on you at any time.
No Love Deep Web
Back in August of 2012, visitors on the dark web could find clues scattered on the network that led them through a fascinating alternate reality game. Much like Cicada 3031’s 4chan game, the clues led regular users through an array of clever clues set-up like a treasure hunt.
The game employed a lot of encryption means to hide its hints, including the famous Caesar cipher, QR codes, morse code and a lot of other similar encryption methods. All of the clues were spread around dark web sites, and one participant recounts the experience as quite thrilling:
“I was a part of the No Love Deep Web Alternate Reality Game where we had to do a deep net scavenger hunt which culminated in me driving to New York to answer a payphone at 3:00AM. That was cool.”
So what was going on? Well, it wasn’t a secret government agency recruiting new members, and it wasn’t a feat of a group of cybercriminals. Rather, the game was created by experimental hip hop group Death Grips to promote their new album, No Love Deep Web.
Evite blackmailing
Evite is a big platform, so the safety and privacy of its members is important to them. Endangering the privacy of said 10 million customers doesn’t sound like something anyone would want (apart from those who want to exploit the security breach).
As it turns out, the hacker that set the breach in motion, Gnosticplayers, didn’t release any information to the public. Rather, he contacted Evite and asked for $1900 in Bitcoin. That’s a relatively small amount, as data breaches of this size can cost companies millions of dollars in settlements.
Evite didn’t pay, and the hacker actually started selling people’s information on the dark web for a short period of time in the summer of 2019. The market he was selling it on then got shut down. We haven’t heard of any developments to this story ever since. Regardless of how this story ended, the stealing and selling of personal data on Dark Web is always horrendous for all victims involved, as platforms like Genesis Market show. However, this will be the only data theft-related entry on our list, since we’re getting into the more… “police show” stuff now.
A Wrong Drug Deal
Reddit user who shared the story that happened to one of his friends in July 2015. His friend is a regular deep web user, and he would buy loads of things like stolen Apple products, drugs, etc. One fine day like usual he ordered drugs from his usual seller but a new one. He asked the seller to deliver the drugs “in a movie case or something that his mom wouldn’t notice”. Reddit user says, My friend’s mom had been killed.
Her throat had been slit, and she had 23 stab wounds, and duct tape covering her mouth. The Reddit user was charged with possession of drugs and lost his mom because of his actions. He would never ever buy drugs from deep web again.
