Carding forum

Carding forum
See also
Turnkey business Trade house Corporate agent Perkscoin Daily money manager Marketing information system EDI systems Activity center Customer

Carding forum is a forum that specialized in the trade of stolen credit card data, as well as identity theft. The most famous example is Tor Carding Forum (TCF). It was based on TOR software that enabled anonymous communication in the internet. It was closed in 2014 and then revived as Tor Carding Forum V2 in 2015. Then closed again.

During the following years many similar forums were created. Peretti K.K mentions other such forums in the article, for example: The Carderplanet organization, The International Association for the Advancement of Criminal Activity (IAACA), The Cardersmarket organization, The CCpowerForums organization. They are in surveillance of legal authorities which strive for finding their owners and putting them to justice. Usually the forums are located in distant countries that have no extradition agreements with USA or European Union. Use of that kind of forums is illegal and can be penalized.

Fig.1. Transaction cost mitigation by carding forums (Source: based on Yip, M., Webber, C., and Shadbolt, N., 2013

Operation of carding forum

The personal data of bank customers have been transformed from the printed version into a digital form in recent years. The problem is that all data is in one place and the leak of such financial data, personal data and data on bank accounts causes significant damage to customers who have cards. This data is breached by special persons (carders) who collect information about these cards and use these cards. They use a special computer program to acquire this data. The online underground economy enables cyber carding crime to distribute stolen information. Carders are very important to cyber crime, because they use services and special tools to accomplish the stages of this crime. They sell their services in carding forums using ads and offers. Their services are rated by clients and this ratings help people involved in testing of this type of crime.

Socio-economic mechanisms

Yip M., Webber C., Shadbolt N think that forums offer four essential socio-economic mechanisms which collectively expedite online underground trading:

• Social networking
• Coordination and formal control
• Quality insecurity mitigation
• Identity insecurity mitigation

Social networking

Criminal capital is the basis for cybercriminals' success, so they must trade with other cybercriminals. They use carding forum because this forum facilitates them contact with other criminals in their industry. These contacts allow criminals to acquire various information, skills and reserves that are needed for criminal purposes.

Coordination and formal control

For organizations that have high coordination requirements, the hierarchical structure is the best because the pure market structure has higher coordination costs. The underground economy has a hierarchical structure because it has high coordination requirements. The boundaries of the networks that the carding forums offer and the hierarchical structure help cybercriminals to introduce management system for regulating and monitoring behavior on this market.

Quality insecurity mitigation

Cybercriminals are not sure about the quality of services and goods from unknown suppliers, because many rippers trade in the internet. They trade unfair using different methods. Cybercriminals use carding forums because these forums reduce this uncertainty because the hierarchical management structure checks suppliers .

Identity insecurity mitigation

In the internet everyone is anonymous so cybercriminals are not sure if the person they trade with is trustworthy. The Shadowcrew bring down because it turned out that a potential trading partner was a co-worker of law enforcement agencies. Forums allow getting a lot of information about vendors because there are posts and threads based on which you can check the interaction of this supplier with the community. If the behavior of some traders seems to be incompatible with the standards of the community this is suspicious.

Management hierarchy of carding forum

Yip M., Webber C., Shadbolt N think that management hierarchy in this forum is consist of:

• "Administrators
• Moderators
• Rewievers
• Reviewed vendors
• Members"

Administrators

They manage the forum and make strategic decisions for a long period of time. They reward or punish members of this forum if it is necessary and protect the carding forum from rippers by removing their.

Moderators

Moderators are in this hierarchy under the administrators. They manage the sub-forums and set post rules and remove inappropriate posts.

Reviewers

They are under moderators in this hierarchy. They test illegal services and goods from potential traders. They are involved in an important part of this mechanism, because they have to trust the vendors and these potential traders have to trust the reviewers.

Reviewed vendors

They are under reviewers in this hierarchy. They are vendors who have gained the trust of reviewers. Each of them has its own special username. They seldom modify their user names because they are recognized through them.

Members

They are under reviewerd vendors in this hierarchy. They are ordinary members who sell services and goods but they don't have reputation. However, trading with them is associated with greater risk.

Examples of Carding forum

• Tor Carding Forum (TCF): This was one of the most famous and notorious carding forums. It was based on TOR software, allowing anonymous communication. The forum was closed in 2014, but revived as Tor Carding Forum V2 in 2015. This version was also closed down later.
• Carders Market: This is a forum for buying and selling stolen credit cards, PayPal accounts, and identity theft services. It operates on the dark web and is known for its strict rules and regulation.
• Darkode: This was an underground cybercrime forum. It operated on the dark web and specialized in selling stolen credit card data, malware, and other cybercrime services. It was shut down in 2015 by an international law enforcement operation.
• Carder.su: This is a Russian-language carding forum which is known for its shady activities. It offers a range of services, including selling stolen credit cards, hacking services, and identity theft.
• Exploit.in: This is a Russian-language forum that focuses on cybercrime activities. It has a wide range of services, including selling stolen credit cards, malware, and hacking services.

Advantages of Carding forum

Carding forums are online platforms where criminals can trade stolen credit card data and other forms of identity theft information. They provide benefits to criminals, such as:

• Anonymity: Carding forums are based on software, such as TOR, that enables anonymous communication and the sharing of information. This allows criminals to operate without the fear of being identified by law enforcement.
• Networking: Carding forums allow criminals to connect and interact with other criminals, which can help them to obtain and share information more easily.
• Access to Resources: Carding forums provide criminals with access to resources such as tutorials and tools to help them in their illicit activities.
• Marketplaces: Carding forums provide a marketplace for criminals to buy and sell stolen credit card data, as well as other items related to identity theft.

Limitations of Carding forum

Carding forums have a number of limitations that make them an unreliable and dangerous way to trade stolen credit card data and commit identity theft:

• Lack of security and anonymity - Carding forums have been targeted by law enforcement and government agencies and have had their members arrested. Additionally, the TOR network that these forums rely on is not completely anonymous and can be monitored.
• Unreliable information - Many forums are filled with fake accounts, bots, spammers, and scammers who try to scam users. Additionally, the information on these forums can be outdated and not reliable.
• Lack of trust - It is difficult to trust the other members of the forum as you do not know who you are dealing with. This means that it is easy for someone to scam you and take your money.
• Too risky - Participating in carding forums is a very risky activity as it is illegal and can lead to serious consequences.

Other approaches related to Carding forum

Introduction: In addition to the Tor Carding Forum, there are other approaches related to carding forums.

• Darknet marketplaces - These marketplaces offer goods such as stolen credit card data and other fraud-related services. This type of platform typically requires users to use cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin to purchase the goods and services.
• Phishing campaigns - These are targeted attacks that involve sending malicious emails or messages to unsuspecting victims. These messages usually contain malicious links or attachments that can be used to steal personal information.
• Social engineering - This involves using manipulation techniques to trick people into giving up their personal information or making purchases using stolen credit cards.
• Dump sites - These are websites that offer stolen credit card information for sale.

Summary: In addition to the Tor Carding Forum, other approaches related to carding forums include darknet marketplaces, phishing campaigns, social engineering, and dump sites.

References

• Li, W., & Chen, H. (2014, September). Identifying top sellers in underground economy using deep learning-based sentiment analysis. In Intelligence and Security Informatics Conference (JISIC), 2014 IEEE Joint (p. 64-67). IEEE.
• Peretti K.K. (2008). Data Breaches: What the Undergound World of Carding Reveals.Santa Clara High Technology Law Journal. Vol. 25, Issue 2, Art. 4
• Yip M., Webber C., Shadbolt N. (2013).Why forums?: an empirical analysis into the facilitating factors of carding forums. ACM New York, NY, USA, p. 453-462

Footnotes

Author: Joanna Zawiślan