It's not often that you hear success stories of dark web criminals. But this a case of a 19-year-old in New Zealand becoming rich on the Dark Web. (*Based off a Vice News interview*)
If you have been on the internet, you've probably seen ads that claim, "You can make thousands of dollars a week from home." People know it's not possible that people can you make this type of money.
But that is what this 19-year-old is doing.
The New Zealander, who goes by Aaron in the media, said he makes around $4,000 a week (close to $200,000 per year). He makes this money by using stolen credit cards to buy gift cards, which he then sells for less on the Dark Web.
This is what many people do when they use stolen credit cards.
Aaron says this is not enough for him, and that he feels that he failed by not making his first million by the age of 18. He wants to earn more by making at least over $40,000 a week, ten times the amount he is making now-which puts him making 1.9 million dollars per year.
He says he wants to be the next Jordan Belfort.
Aaron states that what he does on the Dark Web "takes a shit ton of effort." In the first year he started, he lost close to $2,000 before beginning to make a profit.
Successful people have to fail before they succeed. He failed and now he is prosperous, which shows failure comes before success.
He started by buying stolen credit card details on the Dark Web for $6.50. He then used the credit card details to buy some Calvin Klein shoes on Amazon.
A friend asked Aaron if he could buy the shoes and where to find them. He sold the shoes for $140 to him and knew that money could possibly be made from doing this.
He has a cover job for all of this: an online ecommerce shop. He says it only gets a couple of sales a week, but he doesn't tell people that. Instead, he tells others he is making thousands of dollars from it.
What he does with his money is something that any 19-year-old would want to do if they were that rich. He books five-star hotels in the west coast on Christmas, inviting four of his friends to join him.
They enjoy takeout each day and free alcohol while throwing parties. He also bought an Audi R8.
Aaron says that he does have employees working for him. He has to be paranoid and pay attention to every little detail. He tells his employees everything. He talks to them via encrypted emails and software.
He says if he ever ran into trouble with the law by getting a ticket or something else, it would reveal his identity and make his work super risky.
But he says living with paranoia is not as bad as it seems. The New Zealander adds it does not get to him because he is a calm and collective person. He stated that avoiding freaking out in situations is helping him succeed on his Dark Web business.
He has had some close calls to getting caught, but they were not major. His friend, who was working with him at the time, said he would go to the police if he did not stop. Aaron later found out his friend filled out a report.
But his friend never handed in the report because he thought it would land him in trouble and that it was not going to do any good. Aaron then settled the situation asking his friend to stop working for him, while remaining friends.
That friend is one of the people he takes to five-star hotels on Christmas.
You would think Aaron would not be in college because he's making so much money, but he's actually working for a degree in university. His week usually goes by studying and responding to questions about his ecommerce business and his dark web business.
He creates listings of items on sites like eBay for his online store. In his week, he also deals with dark web clients and ecommerce clients.
He says that he is not scamming innocent people by buying their credit card details and spending it.
Banks protect your money in case of fraud. They'll call the retailer and charge a charge back or, if they do not, the banks will pay it themselves. So, greedy banks lose the money and not the person.
Aaron says the worst case scenario is obviously getting caught. Everyone who does what he does should have the fear of getting caught. He and his mom found out two years ago that his father was a cold-hearted scammer.
When things got bad, he committed suicide. It looks like his father's genes are in him, and that is what he's worried about. He is afraid of becoming like his father, and he promised himself he wouldn't become that person.
He told himself that he would not screw over big institutions such as banks, and that he would never screw over friends or family members.
As is often the case for many people in hard times, the situation ends up screwing over the people they love.
He says if things go downhill with authorities, he will have to think of an exit plan.
Aaron, the Jordan Belfort from New Zealand, seems like he has got everything together. Let's hope he doesn't get caught or that he's the one using your credit card details.
Disclaimer:
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