• Home
  • Cyber Crime
  • Cyber warfare
  • APT
  • Data Breach
  • Deep Web
  • Digital ID
  • Hacking
  • Hacktivism
  • Intelligence
  • Internet of Things
  • Laws and regulations
  • Malware
  • Mobile
  • Reports
  • Security
  • Social Networks
  • Terrorism
  • ICS-SCADA
  • POLICIES
  • Contact me
MUST READ

FBI seizes 20 BTC from Chaos Ransomware affiliate targeting Texas firms

 | 

Critical SAP flaw exploited to launch Auto-Color Malware attack on U.S. company

 | 

Orange reports major cyberattack, warns of service disruptions

 | 

Hackers leak images and comments from women dating safety app Tea

 | 

Pro-Ukraine hacktivists claim cyberattack on Russian Airline Aeroflot that caused the cancellation of +100 flights

 | 

Seychelles Commercial Bank Reported Cybersecurity Incident

 | 

Microsoft uncovers macOS flaw allowing bypass TCC protections and exposing sensitive data

 | 

U.S. CISA adds Cisco ISE and PaperCut NG/MF flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

 | 

Critical WordPress Post SMTP plugin flaw exposes 200K+ sites to full takeover

 | 

Scattered Spider targets VMware ESXi in using social engineering

 | 

China-linked group Fire Ant exploits VMware and F5 flaws since early 2025

 | 

Allianz Life data breach exposed the data of most of its 1.4M customers

 | 

SECURITY AFFAIRS MALWARE NEWSLETTER ROUND 55

 | 

Security Affairs newsletter Round 534 by Pierluigi Paganini – INTERNATIONAL EDITION

 | 

Law enforcement operations seized BlackSuit ransomware gang’s darknet sites

 | 

Arizona woman sentenced for aiding North Korea in U.S. IT job fraud scheme

 | 

Operation CargoTalon targets Russia’s aerospace with EAGLET malware,

 | 

Unpatched flaw in EoL LG LNV5110R cameras lets hackers gain Admin access

 | 

Koske, a new AI-Generated Linux malware appears in the threat landscape

 | 

Mitel patches critical MiVoice MX-ONE Auth bypass flaw

 | 
  • Home
  • Cyber Crime
  • Cyber warfare
  • APT
  • Data Breach
  • Deep Web
  • Digital ID
  • Hacking
  • Hacktivism
  • Intelligence
  • Internet of Things
  • Laws and regulations
  • Malware
  • Mobile
  • Reports
  • Security
  • Social Networks
  • Terrorism
  • ICS-SCADA
  • POLICIES
  • Contact me
  • Home
  • Breaking News
  • Cyber Crime
  • Deep Web
  • Journalists get scammed trying to buy an AK47 in the Dark Web

Journalists get scammed trying to buy an AK47 in the Dark Web

Pierluigi Paganini May 22, 2016

Producers from the German broadcaster ARD have conducted an interesting experiment to demonstrate how to buy a weapon on the dark web.

When journalists write about the black markets hosted on the dark web always describe these places as crucial aggregators where it is possible to buy any kind of illegal product and service. A keyboard, a few bitcoins, and a couple of clicks allows anyone to buy a weapon or any kind of chemical drug. Is it true?

The dark web is the reign of scammers too, many sellers claim to have products that will send to buyers, even when they have paid for it.

Producers from the German broadcaster ARD have conducted an interesting experiment to demonstrate if it is really so simple to buy goods on the dark web. He tried to buy an AK-47 rifle, aka Kalašnikov and paid $800 worth of bitcoin.

The German journalists conducted an investigation for a show titled “Fear of terror—how vulnerable is Germany” with the intent to understand how criminals could access weapons offered for sale in the black markets.

The German channel ARD documented the threat posed by terrorism trying to explain how terrorists could exploit the technology for its activities.

“There is this experiment at the beginning of the broadcast.#Beckmann Ordered via middleman a Kalashnikov in the darknet.At the end comes out: $ 800 paid – and get nothing.” reported the German site Focus.

“Because, as a customs expert, it is not so easy to procure weapons.Sounds weird, but is so.Only that this #Beckmann not nearly as informative as “The program with the mouse”.“

At the beginning of the show, host Reinhold Beckmann instructed a third party to buy an AK-47 rifle. The journalist also asked to the head of the German Bundeskriminalamt (Federal Criminal Police Office) if it is really possible to find weapons online and he confirmed that black markets are the right places where to buy them.

The Beckmann attempt to buy a weapon failed, but it is not clear if the package had been intercepted by law enforcement or it the seller was a scammer.

ak 47 dark web Black Market

Such kind of problems are not rare in the black marketplaces, in November Joseph Cox from MotherBoard wrote an interesting article to explain the difficulty acquiring a weapon from the dark web.

“One impetus for that is the heavy presence of scammers, who create fake accounts to dupe gullible gun hunters out of their money.” wrote Cox.

“I’m just kinda addicted to the scamming part. It’s too easy,” one scammer told Motherboard in an email chat. The scammer used to operate under the handle “Bartsmit” on AlphaBay, a popular market that sells stolen data, weapons, and drugs, among other goods. Today the scammer is still ripping people off, but under a different identity.”

Due to these difficulties, several black markets have stopped stocking weapons altogether.

In July 2105, one of the most popular black markets, Agora, stopped selling guns as announced in a statement published by the site administrators:

“Starting from July 15th 2015 Agora will no longer list lethal weapons.
Following our mission we wish such objects would be available for purchase, but the current reality of it is that the format of a market like ours does not constitute a good way to do it. Shipping weapons is hard, they are expensive and stimulate both scamming by dishonest vendors and honeypot listings by agencies looking to find buyers who might wish to obtain such weapons illegally from us.”

Law enforcement warns of a growing number of scammers that operate in the weapon trade in the dark web, on the other side many operators of black markets blame authorities for infiltrating this specific trade.

If you appreciate my effort in spreading cyber security awareness, please vote for Security Affairs as best European Security Blog. Vote SecurityAffairs in every section it is reported. I’m one of the finalists and I want to demonstrate that the Security Affairs community a great reality.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/secbloggerwards2016

Thank you

Pierluigi

[adrotate banner=”9″]

Pierluigi Paganini

(Security Affairs – dark Web, weapon)


facebook linkedin twitter

AK-47 Cybercrime Dark Web Deep Web Terrorism weapon

you might also like

Pierluigi Paganini July 30, 2025
FBI seizes 20 BTC from Chaos Ransomware affiliate targeting Texas firms
Read more
Pierluigi Paganini July 30, 2025
Critical SAP flaw exploited to launch Auto-Color Malware attack on U.S. company
Read more

leave a comment

newsletter

Subscribe to my email list and stay
up-to-date!

    recent articles

    FBI seizes 20 BTC from Chaos Ransomware affiliate targeting Texas firms

    Cyber Crime / July 30, 2025

    Critical SAP flaw exploited to launch Auto-Color Malware attack on U.S. company

    Malware / July 30, 2025

    Orange reports major cyberattack, warns of service disruptions

    Security / July 29, 2025

    Hackers leak images and comments from women dating safety app Tea

    Data Breach / July 29, 2025

    Pro-Ukraine hacktivists claim cyberattack on Russian Airline Aeroflot that caused the cancellation of +100 flights

    Hacktivism / July 29, 2025

    To contact me write an email to:

    Pierluigi Paganini :
    pierluigi.paganini@securityaffairs.co

    LEARN MORE

    QUICK LINKS

    • Home
    • Cyber Crime
    • Cyber warfare
    • APT
    • Data Breach
    • Deep Web
    • Digital ID
    • Hacking
    • Hacktivism
    • Intelligence
    • Internet of Things
    • Laws and regulations
    • Malware
    • Mobile
    • Reports
    • Security
    • Social Networks
    • Terrorism
    • ICS-SCADA
    • POLICIES
    • Contact me

    Copyright@securityaffairs 2024

    We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent.
    Cookie SettingsAccept All
    Manage consent

    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities...
    Necessary
    Always Enabled
    Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
    Non-necessary
    Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
    SAVE & ACCEPT