Tax Fraud and ID Theft Services Getting Cheaper on the Dark Web
New research by Carbon Black shows that the tax fraud and identity theft services that are offered on the dark web keep on getting cheaper. As a result, anyone with $1000 to spend will now be able to commit tax fraud through a streamlined process that involves purchasing info for a US bank account, filing false tax returns, retrieving tax refunds from the IRS, transferring the money to a cryptocurrency wallet, exchanging the money on the dark web a few times, and finally withdrawing the profits from a foreign bank account.
The researchers warn that “[t]he United States tax refund system, when exposed to the ruthless efficiency of dark web marketplaces, has been turned into a Vegas-style slot machine. Insert some bitcoin, pull the handle and figure out how to receive your $2,000 – $3,000 from the U.S. Treasury courtesy of a faceless victim thousands of miles away.”
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