Did You Know It Only Costs a Few Dollars for Someone to Buy Your Identity Online?

 

Your online identity is probably worth a lot to you. To thieves, not so much.

For $1,170, a thief can illegally buy the entirety of the average person’s stolen personal information on the dark web, according to a review of fraud-related listings by the VPN review site TOP10VPN. That’s relatively cheap, considering that it includes hundreds of logins, passwords, credit card numbers and other identifying information.

In what it calls the Dark Web Market Price Index, the site details how would-be scammers could spend more on going out to lunch than on getting hacked account information such as from Grubhub ($15), Walmart ($12) or Netflix ($8).

The VPN site’s security experts reviewed tens of thousands of listings on three of the most popular dark web markets. These are encrypted websites that can only be reached using the Tor browser. Once there, criminals can anonymously sell stolen personal information and other illegal things such as illicit drugs and weapons.

Credit Cards Wanted Most
Stolen credit card numbers can be used immediately to buy something online, making them some of the most valuable hacked items on the list.

Credit cards sell for an average of $500, the same price as bank logins. Some hacked logins come with a credit card added, such as a Costco login with a credit card for only $5. A Pizza Hut login for ordering pizzas online is only $6 and includes a credit card that can then be used to buy much more than pizza.

Selling prices for credit cards tend to be 10 percent of the available credit balance, researchers found. PayPal accounts have much higher demand, asking double that of credit cards. Verified PayPal accounts with high balances of $10,000 that come with an email address and password cost $2,000.

Bundles of “full” identifying information, called “Fullz,” cost as much as $515 for guaranteed access to a Wells Fargo online account. They can include an individual’s name, billing address, mother’s maiden name, Social Security Number, date of birth and other personal data.

Setting up lines of credit in someone else’s name is the main tactic of cybercriminals. Along with credit card and personal information, they’ll buy digital proof of identity such as passport scans ($16) or a real passport ($2), selfies and utility bills. For $52, a driver’s license scan, Social Security Number and utility bill are included as a package.

Online Shopping
For less than $10, hacked online shopping accounts are sold, providing many fraud opportunities. If you store payment details on Amazon, Best Buy and other online stores, hackers can order items online and sell them for cash. A hacked Amazon account is $6 and a Best Buy account is $15. For a Best Buy login with instant delivery, it’s only $9.

Hacked eBay accounts for $15 allow criminals to dupe buyers into sending them money for fake listings or to buy expensive goods with the account owner’s funds to intercept and sell later.