Dark Web Drug Vendor Pleads Guilty After Feds Traced His Bitcoin Transactions(bleepingcomputer.com)
bleepingcomputer.com
Dark Web Drug Vendor Pleads Guilty After Feds Traced His Bitcoin Transactions
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/legal/dark-web-drug-vendor-pleads-guilty-after-feds-traced-his-bitcoin-transactions/
101 comments
Unfortunately it's a common misconception. Many people with a surge knowledge if the technology believe it's anonymous. It seems like that the guy himself believed it was anonymous.
Bitcoin isn’t really pseudonymous either (not by design) it only has one type of transaction that is always public and there is no inherent deniability as far as wallet ownership goes.
There are some currencies that attempt at providing anonymity or at least deniability but those also haven’t been tested yet either against capable forensic adversaries.
There are some currencies that attempt at providing anonymity or at least deniability but those also haven’t been tested yet either against capable forensic adversaries.
Isn't it pseudonymous? You use addresses to send and receive money, not your real identity. And anyone can generate addresses in a vacuum. Combine that with a VPN or some network routing, and its basically a mountain of work to trace any address or transaction to a person.
It does not offer inherent plausible deniability and only relies on the relative anonymity of your internet connection to hide your identity.
Look at the difference between Bitcoin and say Monero when it comes to anonymity.
My point isn’t about something being easy or hard but rather if the anonymity comes from the design of Bitcoin or is it circumstantial to how you use it and it’s essentially only the latter.
The network was never designed to be anonymous and there isn’t any way to “hide” transactions or to deny your association with a wallet or an address if they trace the IP to you or you end up holding the private key it’s game over and nothing Bitcoin does impacts on the difficulty of this task.
Look at the difference between Bitcoin and say Monero when it comes to anonymity.
My point isn’t about something being easy or hard but rather if the anonymity comes from the design of Bitcoin or is it circumstantial to how you use it and it’s essentially only the latter.
The network was never designed to be anonymous and there isn’t any way to “hide” transactions or to deny your association with a wallet or an address if they trace the IP to you or you end up holding the private key it’s game over and nothing Bitcoin does impacts on the difficulty of this task.
Sure we're talking about pseudonymity though, not anonymity.
It has many types of transactions, in fact it has an entire script language for creating different types.
I know it has its own smart contract scripting but that isn’t used, there are only public transactions there, anonymous transactions, multi addresses and multi key wallets etc aren’t built in so there is no plausible deniability.
What do you mean by "multi addresses" and "multi key wallets" in terms of anonymity?
"wait, my employer isn't automatically withholding the earnings from this money, I've never been in this situation before, does nobody know that I have some money now, so therefore I don't have to pay taxes!"
pretty much everyone in cryptocurrency, whether they thought a little harder about it or not
pretty much everyone in cryptocurrency, whether they thought a little harder about it or not
Even with all the mistakes that he made, I think he would have easily walked had he not done the thing that sealed his fate: bringing his hot "work" laptop (possibly unencrypted or otherwise compromised) with him to the US.
All his other mistakes put together were not enough for the feds to hang him since there is plausible deniability:
The "writing style analysis" may seem advanced but in practice is laughable in terms of false positives.
Being in a possession of a bitcoin address that received payments from a drug trafficker isn't enough evidence to convict. But of course allowing the feds to go through his laptop where he had the trafficking signing keys and other credentials can not be explained away :-0
All his other mistakes put together were not enough for the feds to hang him since there is plausible deniability:
The "writing style analysis" may seem advanced but in practice is laughable in terms of false positives.
Being in a possession of a bitcoin address that received payments from a drug trafficker isn't enough evidence to convict. But of course allowing the feds to go through his laptop where he had the trafficking signing keys and other credentials can not be explained away :-0
Using technology to subvert the State is a large cat and mouse game and the first mice are bound to make mistakes. It's the risk of jumping in before having a better grasp of the underlying technology that you rely on for security. Eventually the market will move nearly completely to more private currencies but the "game" will continue. Some people like to focus on the "high reward" part of "high risk/high reward" a lot more than the "high risk" part.
Storing one’s ledger in a publicly-viewable, massively replicated database is a pretty big on the risk factors IMO.
Yes, absolutely. Unfortunately the majority of people don't fully understand what the system is and how it works. Sound bites and misinformation are regurgitated and spread like the plague while solid understanding requires a lot of work exploration.
>US authorities arrested Vallerius in September last year, at the Atlanta airport after he arrived in the US to attend and participate in the World Beard and Mustache Championships that was being held in Austin, Texas.
And is facing a life sentence.
Dont travel to such countries. Never ever period.
Crossing a border is a big decision, no matter how cheap the tickets are. I dont get people who keep doing this, its not like those are split second decisions.
Why in your right mind would you do this without carefully considering what the effects of you being in that country might be. I had female friends talking about going to holiday in Dubai, another friend with a Turkish passport visited his family in the south east recently.
Think for a moment for gods sake.
And is facing a life sentence.
Dont travel to such countries. Never ever period.
Crossing a border is a big decision, no matter how cheap the tickets are. I dont get people who keep doing this, its not like those are split second decisions.
Why in your right mind would you do this without carefully considering what the effects of you being in that country might be. I had female friends talking about going to holiday in Dubai, another friend with a Turkish passport visited his family in the south east recently.
Think for a moment for gods sake.
Overconfidence is one of OPSECs biggest vulnerabilities. He was much safer in France but clearly felt he was completely under the radar. Using LocalBitcoin accounts directly is a big sign that he didn't fully understand how deeply he was in a mess.
> Crossing a border is a big decision, no matter how cheap the tickets are.
While generally I agree with you, some are trivial. Especially where the EU has gone to great effort to make them trivial to cross. Or where they are fractal and run through houses: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baarle-Nassau
While generally I agree with you, some are trivial. Especially where the EU has gone to great effort to make them trivial to cross. Or where they are fractal and run through houses: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baarle-Nassau
It's completely trivial to cross between states inside the US, but if the next state over legalizes marijuana, and you take a road trip to bring back some weed and edibles, by crossing state lines your road trip may become a Federal drug trafficking offense, with severe penalties if caught.
Even the easiest border crossing can carry significant risks depending on the context.
Even the easiest border crossing can carry significant risks depending on the context.
He obviously didn't know they had his identity, but I would agree, if running a criminal enterprise, be careful where you go.
> if running a criminal enterprise, be careful where you go.
More specifically, and more commonly, if you have or will break local laws in a country, be careful of visiting there.
In some locations, that means don't be gay, or don't be a women out of a specific outfit, etc.
More specifically, and more commonly, if you have or will break local laws in a country, be careful of visiting there.
In some locations, that means don't be gay, or don't be a women out of a specific outfit, etc.
Not just then. Your local laws and rights dont mean shit in your holiday destination. This should be the very first question you ask yourself when traveling.
Hell, even when traveling domestically to other states you should ask that question and research where you're going.
The states concept is something that is mostly relevant to the US. The different in states in for example Germany is extremly limited.
I feel like this is really only relevant to gun laws/hunting. Not sure what other laws are as swiss cheese as they are.
There's also pot legalization differences between states, combined with Federal concerns.
Go to Colorado and buy some edibles, you're fine. Carry some over the border into Kansas, and not only are you breaking Kansas law, but if caught they may hand you over to the Feds and penalties may be severe. (Crossing a state border makes it a Federal issue.)
Go to Colorado and buy some edibles, you're fine. Carry some over the border into Kansas, and not only are you breaking Kansas law, but if caught they may hand you over to the Feds and penalties may be severe. (Crossing a state border makes it a Federal issue.)
Correct me if I'm wrong but it's a federal issue and can be enforced even if you don't cross state lines. There's a drug case where Scalia seemingly ignored his previous opinion about what can be regulated as "interstate commerce" that I remember.
True, I'm sure there's something they can get you on without crossing state lines, but in a legal-pot state at least the local cops probably won't turn you in.
That something is possession.
Yeah kind forgot about that.
You don't become a prominent online drug vendor because of a careful, risk-averse disposition.
"And is facing a life sentence.
Dont travel to such countries. Never ever period."
Wouldn't the proper thing to take away is, "don't become a drug kingpin"?
Wouldn't the proper thing to take away is, "don't become a drug kingpin"?
Similarly when these folks hang out in countries that would happily extradite to the USA. The smarter ones thought ahead about such matters.
Just to clarify, he was sentenced to 20 years (with the plea deal). If he's lucky, he may get out in 10.
He was charged federally, and federal prisons don't do parole. If he was sentenced to 20 years, he'll do most of those 20 years.
Federal prison does do time off for good behavior. 54 days off per year, so a 20 year sentence would at best be cut to about 17 years.
If you have a life sentence you're not eligible.
If you have a life sentence you're not eligible.
I just recently learned about the parole system in the US, do I understand it correctly, that he wouldnt be allowed to leave the country until the 20 years are up?
Most likely yes that is correct. I'm not a lawyer but I think it's _possible_ a judge could allow them to leave the country but I doubt they frequently do allow that. Often they're restricted much more precisely than nationwide.
How does it work outside the US? Is there no parole or do they typically allow you to leave the country?
Edit: said bail instead of parole
How does it work outside the US? Is there no parole or do they typically allow you to leave the country?
Edit: said bail instead of parole
I'm pretty sure bail is different than parole. Bail comes before sentencing, parole comes after the jail/prison time.
Thanks, I meant parole.
Does it end with the initial sentence or can it be longer?
No, they won't extend the initial sentence unless he commits another crime (then it's technically a different sentence). The worst that can happen is you get denied parole all the way up to your full initial sentence and then you're let out.
Thanks for your explanation, that part was unclear to me.
Alternative advice: don't become a drug dealer.
Those drugs aren’t gonna sell themselves
That's quite an attitude toward international travel, something practiced by millions of people for business and pleasure every day.
Always read the small print. Every now and again someone forgets that other countries can be quite different. Drugs policies are the usual one e.g.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/7801410/Dubai-...
.. but it's also possible to become an accidental tourist in someone else's civil war. Or, in the case of this guy, forget that committing crimes internationally can make you wanted in the US.
.. but it's also possible to become an accidental tourist in someone else's civil war. Or, in the case of this guy, forget that committing crimes internationally can make you wanted in the US.
Who hopefully keep in mind the consequences.
You (hopefully) wouldnt travel to Somalia, the fact that other countries arent in headlines doesnt mean they are a safe destination.
Few of them run major criminal operations. Hence the presumption of safety when traveling to "safe and civilized" countries.
> I had female friends talking about going to holiday in Dubai
You get a 1-dimensional perspective every time something local goes wrong and is masqueraded as international news. Its like if a civil rights violation from one US city on any given day was elevated to the world stage. It would sound like much more of a nightmare than anything going on in the UAE.
Most females I've talked to absolutely love Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Even people that have moved there.
The best analogy to the experience is Disney World. Lots of thrills, and adult sexual behavior is stifled, except for minor infractions instead of simply thrown out of the park you'll be thrown in a horrible prison.
The fact of the matter is that you're not one of the slaves. That side of things won't be your experience.
You hope you don't get sexually assaulted and judicially victim blamed, and thats the same anywhere.
You get a 1-dimensional perspective every time something local goes wrong and is masqueraded as international news. Its like if a civil rights violation from one US city on any given day was elevated to the world stage. It would sound like much more of a nightmare than anything going on in the UAE.
Most females I've talked to absolutely love Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Even people that have moved there.
The best analogy to the experience is Disney World. Lots of thrills, and adult sexual behavior is stifled, except for minor infractions instead of simply thrown out of the park you'll be thrown in a horrible prison.
The fact of the matter is that you're not one of the slaves. That side of things won't be your experience.
You hope you don't get sexually assaulted and judicially victim blamed, and thats the same anywhere.
Dubai is not safe for anyone to visit. You can have a microscopic spec of cannabis on your shoe or three poppy seeds and you get years in jail. That's not at all like everywhere else. In fact, it's laws like these that typically get places labeled uncivilized and barbaric. In Dubai's case I think the slavery, oppression of women, and other laws typically fulfill that label even better. No place with such laws is a place I would visit or encourage anyone to visit. Who knows what other stupid laws they will try to enforce on unsuspecting travelers who don't even know they are in violation?
https://newsone.com/409392/brit-jailed-in-dubai-for-4-years-...
https://newsone.com/409392/brit-jailed-in-dubai-for-4-years-...
Most women I know wouldn't go there - including myself. Maybe we run in different circles.
Yeah, you read about women reporting rape, then being jailed for extramarital sex, and realise that ... no, just no.
You should check out #tagyoursponsor to realize why they like it there so much.
#noteverywoman
#notevenmost
#notevenmost
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It is not right to have customs search his laptop. Anyone with that much power will abuse it one way or another.
Why isn’t it right? By this point they had a very reasonable suspicion that he was the criminal they were looking for based on his bitcoin addresses and then further confirmed by analyzing the writing style. That certainly seems like a good enough reason to search someone’s laptop.
Customs in most (maybe all?) countries enjoy something pretty close to absolute search powers.
Dude's OPSEC game was pretty weak. If you're going to do stuff that could get you imprisoned for life, you'd think you would be more thorough.
I don’t understand the sentiment of these comments. This isn’t an impressive example of mass blockchain-and-IP-address correlation and collection - this is an embarrassing example of an inexperienced user publically posting wallet IDs directly linked to his Localbitcoins account.
This is as much “tracing” as it would take to look up a license plate. Add to that a lack of full disk encryption and international travel...
This is as much “tracing” as it would take to look up a license plate. Add to that a lack of full disk encryption and international travel...
Could you please not use allcaps for emphasis in HN comments?
This is in the site guidelines: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html.
This is in the site guidelines: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html.
they found so much on his laptop, he didn't even bothered to encrypt his stuff? it seems that he have made so many mistakes for his job
Even then, nothing seems perfect.
I have FileVault turned on in OSX. But I noticed that, since the latest version, if I open my laptop within some interval, it doesn't even make me type my password again.
And sometimes I've even opened my laptop many hours later and it inexplicably bypasses the login. Just seems so precarious.
I read how the FBI(?) faked a scene (a fight?) near the Silk Road creator so that they could nab his laptop while it was open. Well, I chuckle at how unnecessary that would be for my laptop: just walk up and open it. The piece of shit probably won't even make you log in.
I have FileVault turned on in OSX. But I noticed that, since the latest version, if I open my laptop within some interval, it doesn't even make me type my password again.
And sometimes I've even opened my laptop many hours later and it inexplicably bypasses the login. Just seems so precarious.
I read how the FBI(?) faked a scene (a fight?) near the Silk Road creator so that they could nab his laptop while it was open. Well, I chuckle at how unnecessary that would be for my laptop: just walk up and open it. The piece of shit probably won't even make you log in.
Did he try to sell drugs in the US? How can they arrest him for things he did back home?
For selling to US customers. Similar to the GDPR and European customers.
It is not going to be long before people will have to wear armbands stating their citizenship...
International treaties between all the countries effectively make most USA laws international.
Finally, chemical compounds in demand by adults for private consumption will no longer be available. Victory in the war on drugs!
You're being downvoted but imprisoning OxyMonster for selling things to willing customers will have almost 0 effect on the opioid markets. It's a costly symbolic gesture that will affect nobody but him and his family.
I think many times these arrests are meant to be a demonstration that law enforcement is doing their job. I imagine even the arresting agents realize this guy is a drop in the ocean and his customers will quickly flock to his replacement.
Similar to those folks who work in a corporate environment who complete a document that they know will be jettisoned into a corporate black hole but checks off a requirement.
Similar to those folks who work in a corporate environment who complete a document that they know will be jettisoned into a corporate black hole but checks off a requirement.
Sure, but "doing their job" is a bullshit excuse for taking somebody's life away. Honestly it's worse IMO. They know it accomplishes nothing except making them look a tiny bit better to their bosses. Destroying a person's life for career advancement is quite different than making a worthless gdoc that nobody will read.
>excuse for taking somebody's life away.
There are a million other things he could have sold online that wouldn't have resulted in 20 years in jail. Whether you agree with the illegal status of drugs or not, if someone choose to subvert the law, you can't expect law enforcement not to prosecute.
There are a million other things he could have sold online that wouldn't have resulted in 20 years in jail. Whether you agree with the illegal status of drugs or not, if someone choose to subvert the law, you can't expect law enforcement not to prosecute.
> if someone choose to subvert the law, you can't expect law enforcement not to prosecute.
Sure, that's fine.
But it also obfuscates the more important point: I can expect (and I do expect) that a reasonable, mature society stop this idiotic practice in the first place.
Refusing to learn from the failures of drug prohibition throughout history is one thing, but continuing a current and clearly failed experiment for an entire century is flabbergasting and childish.
Who will be the last person who's life is ruined for no reason? Will it be this dude? Or someone in the same position tomorrow?
Sure, that's fine.
But it also obfuscates the more important point: I can expect (and I do expect) that a reasonable, mature society stop this idiotic practice in the first place.
Refusing to learn from the failures of drug prohibition throughout history is one thing, but continuing a current and clearly failed experiment for an entire century is flabbergasting and childish.
Who will be the last person who's life is ruined for no reason? Will it be this dude? Or someone in the same position tomorrow?
"Sure, but "doing their job" is a bullshit excuse for taking somebody's life away."
I can't have sympathy for someone who was selling opioids to addicts, exacerbating a terrible epidemic.
"Destroying a person's life"
The feds didn't do that, his own actions did that.
I can't have sympathy for someone who was selling opioids to addicts, exacerbating a terrible epidemic.
"Destroying a person's life"
The feds didn't do that, his own actions did that.
> I can't have sympathy for someone who was selling opioids to addicts, exacerbating a terrible epidemic.
That's a philosophical question about how much people own their own lives versus how much you should be able to dictate their lives for your own selfish sense of peace of mind. We're not going to change anyone's minds on that in HN comments.
> The feds didn't do that, his own actions did that.
The "feds" did do that, in response to his actions, because people like you manadte via votes that they do that.
That's a philosophical question about how much people own their own lives versus how much you should be able to dictate their lives for your own selfish sense of peace of mind. We're not going to change anyone's minds on that in HN comments.
> The feds didn't do that, his own actions did that.
The "feds" did do that, in response to his actions, because people like you manadte via votes that they do that.
No. He did it to himself, through his actions.
He's not there voluntarily, is he?
He is responsible for his own actions. No one forced him to become a drug kingpin.
That's just not the point. Not the point at all.
Forget this guy for a second.
The real question here is: will this act (or generally, all of the actions taken by the state pursuant to enforcing prohibition) help anyone? Will it reduce death, disease, crime, misery, addiction?
Forget this guy for a second.
The real question here is: will this act (or generally, all of the actions taken by the state pursuant to enforcing prohibition) help anyone? Will it reduce death, disease, crime, misery, addiction?
That is entirely the point. This guy made a conscious decision to feel in drugs he knew we illegal and harmful. I have zero sympathy for him. He knew exactly what he was doing, and what the consequences were. He did this to himself
As often is the case when debating with you, it's hard to understand the actual difference of viewpoint.
It seems like you just value revenge and compliance over a functioning civil society.
If you can't point to a tangible reduction in death, disease, misery, or addiction from these sorts of state actions, then I just don't see that you have a point to make at all.
It seems like you just value revenge and compliance over a functioning civil society.
If you can't point to a tangible reduction in death, disease, misery, or addiction from these sorts of state actions, then I just don't see that you have a point to make at all.
So, if we go a bit to the extreme, the survivors of Nazi camps also did it to themselves, since everything was done according to German laws?
That almost 0 effect is what practical every form of enforcement against smuggling is going to be. A person not declaring items being brought into the country is very unlikely to have a effect on the federal budget, or any effect of on a legal market, and yet practical all border controls has someone employed to check for undeclared items.
Yeah it's a ridiculous waste of money to infringe on others' rights.
I'm fairly certain the OP was being sarcastic.
Yes, and is being downvoted for it. My reply was agreeing with him but without the sarcastic shtick.
People downvote for the stupidest reasons anymore. It will be the death of good, well thought out but not conformist commentary and become a boring monoculture, just like everywhere else. I'm getting in the habit of looking for stupid downvotes and upvote. I wager at least 2 for this comment.
>People downvote for the stupidest reasons anymore. It will be the death of good, well thought out but not conformist commentary and become a boring monoculture, just like everywhere else. I'm getting in the habit of looking for stupid downvotes and upvote. I wager at least 2 for this comment.
I got 4 downvotes for this. It's sad that just 4 people can ruin one of the last places to have a good conversation on the internet. Perhaps a reconsideration of how the karma system works is in order, in order to save meaningful dialog. Off the top of my head, I would suggest any downvote also removes a karma point from the down voter. Instead of risking karma for taking a considerate but unpopular position, people willing to quell thought and ideas should be risking their own karma. I believe suppressing ideas and thought is far worse than presenting an unpopular idea and therefore should be at a much higher cost.
I got 4 downvotes for this. It's sad that just 4 people can ruin one of the last places to have a good conversation on the internet. Perhaps a reconsideration of how the karma system works is in order, in order to save meaningful dialog. Off the top of my head, I would suggest any downvote also removes a karma point from the down voter. Instead of risking karma for taking a considerate but unpopular position, people willing to quell thought and ideas should be risking their own karma. I believe suppressing ideas and thought is far worse than presenting an unpopular idea and therefore should be at a much higher cost.
Don't complain about downvoting: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7961827
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2569919
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2569919
I won't be anymore. I think I'm probably done here. It's my only remaining method of protest.
And this is why Zcash excites me so much! It's everything Bitcoin is and much, much, more!
Wait who advertised that ? I have always read that bitcoin was pseudonymous (not anonymous) and with public record of all transactions and wallets