In addition, all onion links for accessing the site have been removed and orders are being paused to protect remaining assets and prevent further losses. The administrator has promised to keep users updated as more information becomes available and efforts continue to recover the lost funds. However, in March 2024, customers reported being unable to withdraw Bitcoin and Monero, raising concerns about the possibility of an exit scam.
Pharaoh openly advertised Antinalysis on Dread, framing it as a way to help darknet users and “those who needed complete privacy on the blockchain” evade law enforcement scrutiny. In a statement dripping with irony, he wrote that “Our goals do not lie in aiding the surveillance autocracy of state-sponsored agencies… This service is dedicated to individuals that have the need to possess complete privacy on the blockchain”. This move positioned Pharaoh as something of a champion of privacy in the eyes of darknet denizens. It also showcased his technical acumen – straddling the line between criminal utility and software entrepreneurship. The DOJ called the operation an “online narcotics bazaar that existed on the dark web.” It alleges that the Incognito Market sold more than $100 million in illegal narcotics, including hundreds of kilograms of cocaine and methamphetamine.
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- The marketplace generated $83,624,577 in revenue throughout its operation, allegedly yielding Lin at least $4,181,228 from its 5% commission.
- H25.io is a premium directory in the Tor network, offering access to a diverse and meticulously curated list of onion sites.
- Agents conducted undercover operations to gain access to the marketplace, allowing them to gather intelligence and evidence about the owner.
- This hypothesis may sound explainable considering the exit scheme happening in March 2024 with Incognito Marketplace.
- By day, he worked as a diplomatic tech expert training police in cybercrime; by night, he was “Pharaoh,” the secretive mastermind of Incognito Market – one of the world’s largest dark web drug marketplaces.
But by late 2021, Incognito had started to attract users, and by the middle of 2022, the market had drawn enough vendors and sellers to generate more than $1.5 million a month in sales. During those same busy years, Pharoah also launched a web service called Antinalysis, designed to defeat crypto money laundering countermeasures—only for Lin, who prosecutors say controlled that Pharoah persona, to later refashion himself as a crypto-focused law enforcement trainer. Finally, despite his supposed expertise in cryptocurrency tracing and digital privacy, it was Lin’s own relatively sloppy money trails that, the DOJ claims, helped the FBI to trace his real identity. Once a transaction took place, funds were transferred from a buyer’s account into the seller’s, minus a 5 percent fee collected by Incognito Market. “Under the promise of anonymity, Lin’s alleged operation offered the purchase of lethal drugs and fraudulent prescription medication on a global scale,” said James Smith, an assistant director in the FBI’s New York office. A 23-year-old man from Taiwan has been arrested on charges of selling at least $100 million worth of illegal drugs online through a site on the dark web known as the “Incognito Market.”
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Unlike previous darknet marketplaces, Incognito was designed from the ground up to be more secure, more user-friendly, and far more lucrative for its operators. Lin was the alleged mastermind behind Incognito Market, a darknet marketplace that facilitated the sale of illicit drugs and other illegal goods. Operating under the pseudonym ‘Pharaoh,’ Lin controlled every aspect of the market, from its technology infrastructure to its financial operations. In mid-March 2024, the Incognito administrator(s) announced an exit scam and threatened to release all of the vendor information and private messages between vendors and buyers to law enforcement. Pharaoh asked vendors for payment by April 1, 2024 in exchange for not releasing information to law enforcement.
Lin’s use of Monero, a privacy-focused cryptocurrency, added an additional layer of security. Unlike Bitcoin, which has a transparent public ledger, Monero’s transactions are completely private. This made it the perfect currency for darknet transactions, as it allowed users to send and receive funds without leaving a trace. While Silk Road and Hydra had laid the groundwork for darknet markets, they were not without their flaws.
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To further complicate matters, reports suggest that a whitelist portal will be established, allowing purchasers to potentially erase their records. Ironically, amidst these threats, the administrator expresses “gratitude” towards customers and vendors for their involvement with Incognito Market, a sentiment that clashes starkly with their current extortion tactics. With the investigation already in full swing, the exit scam provided law enforcement with the final piece of the puzzle. By 2022, the FBI and Homeland Security had begun to take a serious interest in Incognito Market. The market’s sophisticated security measures, coupled with its global reach, made it one of the most challenging targets they had ever faced.
He had applied to work as part of the embassy’s techical corps in lieu of military service — mandatory for Taiwanese men — and had “behaved normally”. Thank you for choosing Incognito Link as your marketplace for purchasing Darknet goods. On other platforms, such as OpenSea, Lin sells NFTs with basketball players, and his collections appear to be up to 37 NFTs. In October 2021, the defendant also gave a YouTube interview explaining how his anti-DDoS tool “PoW Shield” worked for Pentester Academy TV, demonstrating his technical skills.
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But just as the operator of Incognito Market certainly collected skills, he also collected enemies. First of all, many of the listings were not pure or authentic in their contents – the platform therefore facilitated the spread of the deadly substance fentanyl, according to the DoJ. The dark web site was formed in October 2020 and ran until March of this year, serving as a forum to buy and sell commodities including heroin, cocaine, LSD, MDMA, oxycodone, methamphetamines, ketamine, and alprazolam. Lin seems like a knowledgeable person in the field of security and cryptocurrency, as per social media accounts listed in the complaint against him. Hundreds of kilograms (pounds) of cocaine, methamphetamines and other drugs were sold on Incognito Market since its launch in October 2020, it said. While this week’s takedown recalls the 2013 shutdown of Silk Road, the evolution of darknet commerce is stark.
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“The defendant’s greed and disregard for others was further demonstrated by his alleged extortion attempt during the platform’s final days.” “You’ll be surprised at the number of people that relied on our “auto-encrypt” functionality. And by the way, your messages and transaction IDS were never actually deleted after the expiry,” the Incognito Market admin said. “….SURPRISE SURPRISE!!! Anyway, if anything were to leak to law enforcement, I guess nobody ever slipped up.” In an interview with BeInCrypto, Guillermo Fernandes, founder of blockchain analysis platform Blockpliance, shed light on the methodologies for tracing bad actors. Law enforcement agencies knew that cracking PGP encryption directly would be a nearly impossible task.
Traceable Transactions
The statement boasted that 30 officers had learned “nuances of the dark web” and cryptocurrency tracing skills from Lin, who had “used his professional background and qualifications in the field” to teach them how to better combat cybercrime. Lin, a self-described crypto developer and fan of privacy coin Monero, said on X that he facilitated a four-day workshop on cyber crime and cryptocurrency for 30 police officers at the Saint Lucia Police Academy in early April. Incognito Market included “many features of legitimate e-commerce sites such as branding, advertising, and customer service,” the Justice Department said.
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Instead, he warned users that he had records of over 500,000 orders and more than 860,000 cryptocurrency transaction IDs. He threatened to reveal all the transaction details on Incognito, including the names of buyers and sellers, which could identify people involved in illegal orders. What’s striking is how Lin used this data as a weapon, basically forcing his own users to pay or face legal action. This shows how vulnerable dark web users really are, even if they think they are safe. It’s a warning to anyone who believes their anonymity on such sites is foolproof, especially when the site operator can be the biggest threat. According to the investigation, Incognito Market was an online narcotics bazaar that existed on the dark web.
This meant that even if one server was compromised, the rest of the network would remain intact, allowing the market to continue operating without interruption. Born in Taiwan, Lin was a bright student, excelling in computer science and cybersecurity. By the time he graduated from National Taiwan University in June 2023, he had already built a reputation as a blockchain enthusiast and a skilled developer. In perhaps the most extraordinary twist in the case, Lin, who is only 23 years-old, worked for the Taiwanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “The defendant’s greed and disregard for others was further demonstrated by his alleged extortion attempt during the platform’s final days,” lamented Ivan J Arvelo of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New York.
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The marketplace has been active since July 1, 2023, and has been among the top five infamous marketplaces providing shopping for illicit goods in the darkweb, offering more than 16 categories of narcotics and over 1000 products. Compared to other marketplaces, it offered innovative and a much more user-friendly interface. Among these features one could find Direct Pay, implying buyers could use their wallets instead of those provided by the marketplace.
His teachers recognized his potential and recommended that he apply to National Taiwan University, one of the country’s most prestigious institutions. From a young age, Lin showed an aptitude for technology, quickly mastering computers and programming languages. His parents, both educators, nurtured his talents, encouraging him to pursue his passion for technology. How did a young man from Taiwan, a brilliant developer with a promising career, end up as one of the most wanted cybercriminals in the world? This is the story of how Rui-Siang Lin, aledgely also known as ‘Pharaoh,’ built the Incognito Market into a $100 million empire—and how it all fell apart.
Darknet Markets Explained
His technical expertise, combined with his shrewd business acumen, allowed him to build a fortune in the shadows of the dark web. But as Incognito’s user base expanded, so too did the scrutiny from law enforcement agencies around the world. In October 2020, Lin allegedly launched Incognito Market on the Tor network, a platform designed with the sole purpose of enabling anonymous transactions for illegal goods.
