BI.ZONE experts analyzed over 3,500 advertisements on darknet platforms offering dossiers on specific individuals, known as “probiv” (finding). One in five offers (21%) promises a complete profile of an individual.
The market is divided into three price ranges. The budget one is a basic check based on one or two parameters: for example, searching for a person’s full name and date of birth using a phone number or email address.
However, most offers (75%) are in the mid-range price range, around 20 euros. For this amount, they promise not only to verify a person’s identity using contact information, but also to compile a dossier from various databases and registries, including classified ones . The main source of information is data leaks, both public and paid.
The premium segment, researchers report, ranges from €33 to €350. This includes expensive and comprehensive services such as a ” turnkey dossier,” a summary of information from all major databases and registries . Criminals promise to provide information on banking transactions, border crossings, and legal entities associated with the individual.
Additionally, attackers regularly post offers to company employees asking for help in obtaining confidential data in exchange for a reward . Experts warn that for employees, such internal activity constitutes a serious violation of the law, risking criminal liability.
Services for illegally obtaining geolocation data and call logs are also widespread. A simple call and SMS log costs an average of €250. A “flash,” a single location scan using geolocation data, costs slightly more. The most expensive service (about €400) is the geolocated call and message log: a log of calls and messages with information on the location of each contact.
Experts have concluded that attackers are constantly publishing new data leaks on darknet resource databases. A critical amount of information on virtually every individual is already publicly available, and scammers are exploiting this data for their own gain, including through social engineering techniques.
The researchers noted that anyone can be a target for scammers, so it’s important to remain vigilant and not give in to provocations, even if the person you’re talking to on the phone or via messenger is providing personal and seemingly confidential information.
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