Topline
UniCC, the largest online marketplace for stolen credit and debit cards, announced it will close next week after facilitating $358 million in transactions over nine years, blockchain analytics firm Elliptic reported Wednesday — the latest in a wave of illicit dark web marketplace closures.
Debit and credit cards.
Jeff Overs/BBC News & Current Affairs via Getty Images
Key Facts
UniCC’s owners announced the site will stop operating January 22, in a Russian- and English-language message on dark web forums viewed by Elliptic.
According to analysis by Elliptic, UniCC received over $100 million worth of bitcoin in exchange for stolen credit cards in 2021 alone, a boom facilitated by the February closure of Joker’s Stash, previously the biggest marketplace for stolen credit cards.
UniCC’s owners urged the public not to “build any conspiracy theories” about the site’s closure, claiming the decision was made because “we are not young,” according to Elliptic.
Key Background
Credit card information can be stolen through phishing or other scams, or by hacking bank and retail databases. The cards can then be sold or used to launder money obtained through other forms of online crime. UniCC’s shuttering is the latest in a series of closures on the dark web, a part of the internet that can only be accessed with special authorization or with special software and that is known for hosting…
