According to experts, the number of fraudulent sites in 2019 increased 2. 5 times compared to last year. These are official statistics from several of the largest Russian information security centers, which, however, do not take into account the activities of cybercriminals within the Tor network. For example, phishers - scammers who create fake copies of popular resources in an attempt to steal user data or money - have reached alarming proportions on the darknet. The largest and most well-known resource within the Tor network, Hydra, suffers the most from phishing on the darknet. This site, which provides a platform for the sale of prohibited goods and services, has become a real gold mine for online scammers.
Phishers work according to an established scheme - they distribute links to fake copies of Hydra. Since the official address of this site is not known to everyone, and it is not so easy to remember it, the likelihood that a person will click on a fake link is quite high. After the user tries to log in through the phishing pad and enters his data, his account is taken over by the attacker. Further, the fraudster can do anything with the account: steal money, sell, demand a refund for the purchase, or leave a review, which will contain another phishing link.
The immense popularity of the largest Russian site for the sale of prohibited goods and services attracted far from the most sophisticated users there. Often, such people have only heard of the dark web by the edge of their ears, and when they install the Tor browser to access Hydra, this is usually their first experience with the shadow Internet. Perhaps worst of all, newcomers to the illegal market are still trying to find a link to Hydra in traditional search engines or other open sources. Let's try to find out what happens if we try to find a link to Hydra in Google or Yandex using the corresponding key request?