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.”
Read more: Tax Fraud and ID Theft Services Getting Cheaper on the Dark Web
