Cybercriminals are listing infants' Social Security Numbers, together with other types of stolen data, for sale on the dark web.
That's according to a report recently released by Terbium Labs, an exclusive dark web intelligence company.
In their submission, they outlined that they came across a post on Dream Market (a prominent dark web marketplace) which paraphrased, "Infant fullz get em befor tax season."
For around $312, interested purchasers can now acquire the name of an infant, their birth date, their Social Security Number and even the maiden name of their birth mother.
The unlawful acquisition of such personal data has detrimental consequences.
The report indicates that since malicious individuals can obtain this data, they now have access to new credit histories which subsequently allows them to receive benefits from the government, take out mortgages and even claim added tax credits in efforts to add to their returns.
According to a blog post by Terbium Labs, the tax credit for every child is currently at a maximum of $1,000.
As such, if any interested buyer were to file successfully and even claim such a return, they could receive massive potential return on their investment.
The researchers further point out that if the buyer is innovative, they can acquire the other details either by harvesting it off the other online platforms used by the parents-such as their social media accounts-or via open-source sets of data.
Unfortunately, this type of identity theft can go unnoticed for extended time periods, sometimes until the victim has finally reached the age where they are eligible to open an individual credit account.
While this is not the first time children's data has surfaced in the dark web, researchers claim that this is surprisingly the first instance where there is stolen data on infants specifically.
Even with this information now openly available, reports indicate it is surprisingly rare for these types of dark web markets to have such information precisely categorized as either belonging to infants or children.
According to researchers, the time at which these cases have emerged is somewhat related to the upcoming U.S. tax season, which is upcoming in April.
Researchers add that unlike other fraud types, tax frauds are cyclical. For instance, now that April marks tax season, purchasing tax-related data or a W2 in July would amount to very little interest.
With the U.S. tax deadline now imminent, the number of tax fraud-related listings on dark web marketplaces is expected to rise significantly as more vendors continue listing products to cater for the peaked demand.
In recent years, massive sets of stolen data harvested off leaks and data breaches find their way into the dark web and are auctioned as full identity stacks, or what's commonly referred to as "fullz." The harvested data may include Social Security Numbers, full names, birth dates and driver's license information.
Aside from the infant Social Security Numbers, researchers also identified tax-related fraud tutorials and fraud guides up for sale with prices ranging to as low as $2 on dark web marketplaces.
Also spotted was a comprehensive outline of filing fraudulent tax returns without being detected.
Nonetheless, the researchers noted that most of the available documents are generally outdated, lacking the necessary topical information that would make them useful.
Before tax season, Employee Identification Numbers, pay stubs, and W2 forms are also available on these marketplaces for a meager price of $35.
This allows cybercriminals to file falsified tax returns.
Terbium Labs noted that the most useful tutorials and guides never find their way into dark web advertisements.
Instead of listing them for sale for just anyone, seasoned fraudsters will either retain the most valuable tricks and tips for themselves or they will circulate them among an entrusted group of like-minded peers.
In conclusion, the researchers added that although there have been some significant dark web shake-ups and tax code disruptions, it is unlikely that this will halt identity theft cases that involve tax fraud.
According to them, fraud always comes up with a way.
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